Playoff Baseball - AKA Twins vs Yankees

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh yes, Fall has arrived and with it Playoff Baseball. The local team has once again made it to the postseason and once again will be squaring off against the much hated New York Yankees, who happen to be the defending World Champions. It is a bit different this year in that the Twins will be the team with home field advantage, as the Yankees enter the playoffs as a Wildcard team. Fun Fact - the Yankees have never gotten out of the first round as a Wildcard team. Regardless - it is still the Yankees, and we are still the Twins. Lets take a look at a few reasons why the Yankees will win and then a few reasons why the Twins will win. Then we'll make a bold prediction, like always!

Why the Yankees will win:

• We are 2-9 against them in the postseason the last three times we have played - including a painful sweep last season
• Derek Jeter is Mr. Playoff Baseball
• Alex Rodriguez is hitting over .900 against almost all of relief pitchers and hasn't not homered against Matt Guerrier
• They have a better Ace than us
• They have more power than us
• They have the swagger against us - until we actually beat them - why wouldn't they. I read the other day that our current manager is something like 15 - 58 against the Yankees since taking over in 2002. Seriously, look at that and think about it
• Our closers throw fastballs over the middle of the plate. While this is ideal for bad teams, it isn't for a team that hits for power
• The Twins are without Justin Morneau - a crucial piece of a playoff roster
• Because nothing good ever happens to teams I cheer for

Why the Twins will win:

• First year at Target Field
• We have better bats than we have had in the past
• Our starting pitching had been excellent toward the end of the year
• The whole team is pissed off that the New York fans are already wondering who they will play in the second round due to their EZ PASS in the Twins
• Joe Mauer will dominate and show the Yankees why he made the decision he did
• Delmon Young is on fire
• Jim Thome probably knows this is his last legit shot at a title, and damn it, he deserves it
• We are something like 82 -4 when leading after 7 innings this year
• THIS BASEBALL TEAM IS DUE FOR SOMETHING EPIC

This series gets underway Wednesday night at 7:30 Central Time. Liriano vs Sabathia in what I view as the series decider. I think the Twins HAVE to win Game 1 if they intend on winning the series. We will not beat the Yankees 3 out of 4 times including 2 on the road. I like our chances against Pettite in Game 2 and I love our chances in game three if Duensing can pitch like he has been. If the Twins win this series I think it will be in 3 games. No I'm not joking. If this goes any further I don't think we pull it out, the Yankees own us too much. They will come through, they will hit devastating home runs against our closers, they will beat us. The Twins need to come out strong and Liriano needs to post 6 or 7 solid innings. I think Mauer and Thome are going to be the pulse of this playoff team and they will need to be hot for us to move forward. If they are hot, they will take the pressure off Delmon and that will be when he thrives. I know a little bit about Delmon Young, and let me tell you, he is swinging the bat well right now. I expect big things from him in this series, but only if the big name veterans can take a little pressure off him. The Twins also need to play sound defense, but you already knew that. We can't give the Yankees more outs than they already have, they will make you pay. I guess we should get to the prediction now.

PREDICTION:

I'm just going to get out and say it. I think the Yankees win this series in 4 games. I don't think we will win game 1, and when that happens, it will be over essentially. We'll sneak out game 2 and lose 3 and 4 at New York. I've been a Twins fan since I can remember, and I've always thought they would win their first round series, even when we were huge underdogs, but I just can't do it anymore. The Yankees have our number, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm sure we will lose some crazy demoralizing way, we always find some way to make it hurt more and be able to say, "we should have won." Should have won doesn't get you 27 World Championships, WINNING DOES. The Yankees know how to win, the Twins know how to contend. Don't worry, we'll be back next year, contending again, and probably winning the division. Maybe we will get lucky and not get matched up against the damn Yankees then.