ALDS Game 2: Yankees walk off in 11th to win Game 2
October 9, 2009
The Twins just cannot win in Yankee Stadium. The Twins had the game in their hands before the Yankees tied it in the ninth and won the game with a walk off home run, the fourth walk off the Twins have lost at Yankee Stadium this year and have gone winless in six attempts.
Nick Blackburn and AJ Burnett found themselves locked in a pitchers duel with both keeping the base runners to a minimum. Burnett, though, would hit two consecutive batters, Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez, in the fourth to put runners on first and second. Matt Tolbert would connect with a single to right but a base running blunder by Gomez would yield the third out before Young would cross the plate.
Brendan Harris replaced an injured Matt Tolbert in the sixth and connect with a two out triple to score Delmon Young from second to break the scoreless tie. Nick Punto failed in extending the lead by grounding out to second base to end the inning.
As with Game 1, the Yankees wouldn’t let the Twins have the lead for long as Alex Rodriguez hit a two out RBI single to score Derek Jeter from second to tie the game at one. The game would remain tied until the Twins came alive in the eighth.
With two outs in the eighth, Carlos Gomez would draw a walk and advance to third on a single from Brendan Harris. Nick Punto hit an RBI single to center to give the Twins the lead and Denard Span knocked in Harris on a single to right to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.
Jon Rauch pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning in 12 pitches before turning it over to Joe Nathan in the ninth. Nathan would give up a single to Mark Teixeira to start out the ninth before giving up a 2-run homer to Alex Rodriguez to tie the game at three. Nathan retired the next three batters to take this game into extra innings.
In the tenth, the Twins advanced Nick Punto to third with two out but failed to knock in a run after Orlando Cabrera hit a fly ball to right field. The Yankees also squandered an opportunity to score after getting Brett Gardner to third base after a failed pick off attempt that sailed into center field. Nathan then intentionally walked Derek Jeter before being replaced by Jose Mijares, who got Johnny Damon to hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Twins were the victims of a bad call from third base line umpire Phil Cuzzi, who ruled a ground rule double from Joe Mauer a foul ball. Replays showed the ball landed nearly a foot fair, however, Mauer got on base with a single to center. Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer loaded the bases with no out and again failed to score when the bottom of the line up were retired in order.
The Yankees would finally put the game away in walk off fashion when Mark Teixeira hit a home run off Mijares that barely cleared the fence in left field to give the Yankees a 4-3 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS.
Attendance: 50,006 (Yankee Stadium)
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