The New York Yankees have a huge budget that is able to pay a tea loaded with stars. In Game 2 against the Minnesota Twins, two of the biggest stars earned their contracts.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Twins had a 3-1 lead and set Joe Nathan to the mound — who is one of the best closers in baseball. To begin the inning, Mark Teixeira hit a single. The next batter was Alex Rodriguez, a player with a lackluster history in clutch situations. But that wasn’t the case on Friday night. Rodriguez hit a two-run blast to …read more

In the first game of the 2009 baseball playoffs, the New York Yankees didn’t disappoint. With their stars playing like stars, the Yankees were able to beat the Minnesota Twins by a final count of 7-2.
On the mound, C.C. Sabathia was very good. He pitched 6.2 innings and gave up only one earned run while striking out eight batters. The relievers allowed only one more hit the rest of the way.
At the plate, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez led the way. Jeter was 2-for-2 with three runs, two RBIs and two walks. Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a run and two …read more

In one of the most exciting tiebreaker games in the history of baseball, the Minnesota Twins were able to defeat the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings. With Carlos Gomez on second base, Alexi Casilla hit a game-winning single off of Fernando Rodney to win the game.
After Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run blast in the third inning, the Tigers held a 3-0 lead. But then the Twins scored the game’s next four runs — capped by a two-run homer by Orlando Cabrera. In the eighth inning, Magglio Ordonez hit a solo home run to tie it up.
The tenth inning also brought …read more

The Detroit Tigers have seemingly been in control of the AL Central for the entire 2009 baseball season. But with only two games left on the schedule, the Twins are making the Tigers sweat.
The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals on Friday, while the Tigers lost to the Chicago White Sox. As a result, the Twins trail the Tigers by only one game now.
After getting up 10-0 on the Royals, the Twins almost saw the entire lead disappear. In fact, the Royals cut the lead to 10-7 and even had the tying run at the plate in the eighth …read more

The Detroit Tigers could have clinched the AL Central with a win on Thursday. The Minnesota Twins weren’t having it. Instead, the Twins handed the Tigers an 8-3 defeat.
After Gerald Laird put the Tigers up 1-0 with an RBI single in the second inning, the Twins went on a tear. They scored the game’s next eight runs, with the biggest hit being a three RBI bases clearing double by Orlando Cabrera in the eighth inning.
Twins starting pitcher Scott Baker was very good. In five innings, he gave up five hits and no earned runs. With the win, he improved his …read more

The Minnesota Twins just won’t quit. On Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader, the Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers to pull within one game in the AL Central. With a win in the second game of the doubleheader, the two teams would be tied.
In the 3-2 Twins victory, Orlando Cabrera authored the winning hit. With the game tied 1-1 in the tenth inning, Cabrera hit a run scoring single. Delmon Young followed later in the inning with a sac fly.
In the bottom of the tenth, Curtis Granderson hit a solo home run but Joe Nathan retired the other …read more

The Detroit Tigers were headed in the wrong direction. On Sunday, they got some relief — at least temporarily. In Minnesota, the Tigers were able to top the Twins by a final count of 6-2 to push their lead to three games in the AL Central.
Placido Polanco was the star at the plate for the Tigers. He went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs. His two-run single in the fifth inning gave Detroit a lead that it would never lose.
On the mound, Nate Robertson when five innings while giving up two earned runs and striking out six to earn …read more

To add depth to their bullpen, the Minnesota Twins have acquired Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Jon Rauch. The 6-foot-11 right-hander will help the Twins in their push to make the 2009 baseball playoffs.
On the season, Rauch has a 4.14 ERA in 58 appearances. He has a record of 2-2 to go along with two saves and 12 holds. Since the All-Star break, Rauch has an ERA of 3.68.
The Twins can desperately use Rauch’s arm in their bullpen. Closer Joe Nathan has been fantastic and Jose Mijares and Matt Guerrier have been very good, however the depth basically ends there. Rauch gives …read more

The 2009 National League Most Valuable Player award will go to Albert Pujols as long as he stays healthy. On Saturday, there was more proof of why that is the case. Against the Minnesota Twins, Pujols smashed two homers as the St. Louis Cardinals pulled out a 5-3 win.
On the game, Pujols was 2-for-2 with two runs, four RBIs, two homers and two walks. He’s now hitting .328 with 28 blasts, 74 RBIs, 59 runs and an on-base percentage of .450. He’s leading the entire big leagues in homers, RBIs, runs and on-base percentage.
Against the Twins, Pujols hit a two …read more

Although Ken Griffey Jr. has had his ups and downs during his return to the Seattle Mariners, he came up big on Saturday. In the eighth inning, hit a double to knock in Ichiro. That hit gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead that they would prove to be enough to beat the Minnesota Twins.
Griffey, who was batting cleanup, is now hitting .224 on the season with six homers and 16 RBI. He’s also scored 16 runs and has an on-base percentage of .335.
Ichiro, a day after his 27-game hitting streak came to an end, was also a hero. He went …read more