Minnesota Twins reel in losing slump as the Yankees go 2 – 0 up in Playoffs (Pt. 2)
The Minnesota Twins were hosting their second playoff match against the New York Yankees at Target Field, Minnesota. Being a game down against their opponents was a stern reality and Ron Gardenhire’s men were required to perform in this bout. Unfortunately,
with a history of 2 losses in 10 games, there was no way many speculators saw the side cruising to a comfortable win. The home advantage was not an attribute to consider and the dipping form in the league season was a creeping reality the club had full inkling
of.
The Yankees were back to their best form with Andy Pettitte on the mound. Joe Girardi had enough confidence to hand the living legend, a chance to perform in the big league. However, going in to the bottom 2nd innings of the game, things were
looking bad for the 38-year-old. With a run down in the 2nd innings, the Yankees took up the top 3rd session and continued with the fixture as it was reaching the first quarter of the match.
Carl Pavana was doing a good job on the mound, restricting the powerful Yankee hitting faction to no runs on the board. The ace man conceded nothing and when the top 3rd came into session, the same result was brought forward. It was too early
to pronounce a winner but the coin tilted more towards the hosts.
The Yankees were scoreless at the end of the 3rd inning and while Andy kept the Twins quiet in the bottom 3rd, Joe Girardi’s men had a chance to push up in the game, with 6 innings to go. But it didn’t take long for the side to walk
in to safe spot as the Yanks got they’re game back on check in the top 4th. Curtis Granderson began the session with a double to the deep right.
Mark Teixeira followed that up with a single to the left as Curtis moved up to third. With a chance to score for the equalizer, Alex Rodriguez walked on to face Carl. The two have played a lot of baseball to know what their strengths and weaknesses were.
For Pavana, however, that wasn’t completely true. If A Rod couldn’t smash his pitch for a homer, he could hit it up for a long sacrifice fly that would get the Yanks their run. And that’s exactly what happened as Curtis ran home with a run tagged to his back.
The Twins were back on the campaign to grab the winner but their bid didn’t materialize in the bottom 4th. However, it was the Yanks who were out for glory and one unlikely candidate for the dependable task got the job done. Lance Berkman was
on in the top 5th and he was strong on the bat. He smashed a massive 423 feet homer to the centre to get New York a definitive lead in the game. The score was 2 – 1 and the hosts were now the ones to lag behind.
With a quiet bottom 5th and a top 6th, the Twins didn’t waste much time to climb back up for the equalizer. The man responsible for the job was Orlando Hudson. The hitter was right on the button as he made all his might count for the
errand that Minnesota had on hand, which was to get the team up and out of their recent, dire predicament. The batter thumped on Andy Pettitte with a glorious 380 feet homer through the left hand side of the park.
The teams were now level on a score line of 2 – 2. As the game went into the top 7th with the Yankees on the batting plate, tension between the two clubs was reaching a new high. It was turning out to be a stellar match and such hysteria was rampant
that it started to look like a playoff game.
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