Yanks edge Twins in Game 1

The Yanks took a 1-0 lead in the ALDS following a 6-4 victory over the Twins on Wednesday night.

In the first outdoor playoff game in Minnesota since 1970, the Yanks struggled early but rebounded with a big sixth inning. Trailing 3-0 after Liriano had retired 11 in a row, Tex crushed a one-out double and moved to third on a wild pitch. A-Rod then drew a walk before Cano slugged an RBI single to right. Thames went down swinging but Georgie came up HUGE with an RBI single to close it to 3-2. Finally, Grandy hit a triple off the wall in center to give the Yanks a 4-3 edge.

CC, who moved to 4-0 in as many ALDS starts, gave the lead up in the home half as Danny Valencia drew a game-tying bases-loaded walk. CC didn’t have his best stuff, as he went six innings and gave up four runs — three earned — on five hits with five strikeouts to three walks.

However, Tex smoked a two-run jack just inside of the right-field foul pole in the seventh to account for the final margin.

D-Rob came up huge with an inning-ending strikeout of Thome in the home seventh and Mo recorded the final four outs, after a so-so performance by Kerry Wood, to nail down his 40th career postseason save. 40, he’s a man.

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