Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Joe Mauer, Delmon Young and the Minnesota Twins finally found some good fortune at Yankee Stadium.
Mauer hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning and Minnesota broke through in the Bronx, rallying past the New York Yankees 5-4 on Tuesday night to overcome a dominant outing by CC Sabathia.
“It’s never easy to play them, no matter where the game is. And even when you get a lead, those guys know how to win,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Our boys showed a lot of courage. It was a great win.”
Young blooped a three-run double in the eighth to tie it and the Twins took advantage of five walks by Yankees relievers in the last three innings. Matt Capps (1-0) got six straight outs and Joe Nathan earned his second save since missing last season following Tommy John surgery on his elbow.
“It was a good win for us to battle back against this team in this stadium,” Nathan said. “Tough conditions, throwing and hitting. It seemed almost like we were throwing ice cubes, it was so cold and dry.”
The comeback had to be especially satisfying for the Twins. Including playoff games, they are 7-31 in the Bronx since Gardenhire took over as manager in 2002. New York has won 18 of the last 21 meetings overall, counting three-game sweeps in the AL division series each of the past two years.
Mark Teixeira hit another three-run homer to extend his exceptional start andAndruw Jones went deep his first time up with the Yankees, who appeared poised to torment the Twins yet again before the bullpen collapsed.
Sabathia tossed seven shutout innings, retiring his final 17 batters. The big left-hander yielded just a pair of second-inning singles before a light crowd on the latest chilly night for baseball in the Bronx.
He struck out six, walked one and was pulled after 104 pitches. But the Yankees couldn’t preserve a four-run lead.
“Just one of those nights. It’s going to happen. But I have full confidence that these guys are going to shut the door nine times out of 10, and that’s really the strength of our team,” Sabathia said.
WRITTEN BY by STATS LLC and The Associated Press & FULL STORY HERE
