Long version of God Bless America was to blame 10/3/03

Getting even

Yankees forge tie with Twins

By GORDON WITTENMYER Saint Paul Pioneer Press

Friday, October 3, 2003

The Minnesota Twins left Yankee Stadium with a split in the first two games of a playoff series nobody gave them a chance to win, in the process beating the New York Yankees for the first time in two years.

So why does it seem as if Twins fans are looking at it more like one of those T-shirts that reads, "My team went to the Bronx and all they brought me was this lousy split"?

Maybe because some of the Twins feel the same way after a 1-1 game in the seventh inning Thursday turned into a 4-1 loss because of an Irish tenor, a hit batter and a rough night for setup ace LaTroy Hawkins that included a throw into the stands for an error.

"We don't leave with a good feeling," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We won a ball game here but sure had a chance again to win here tonight."

The Twins missed a few scoring chances against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte, the 20-game winner who went seven innings for the victory. But it was the seventh inning that was their ultimate undoing.

After a seventh-inning stretch prolonged by singer Ronan Tynan's lengthy rendition of "God Bless America" on a cold night, Twins pitcher Brad Radke hit the first batter he faced in the seventh, and after a sacrifice bunt, he was out of the game.

Gardenhire said the long cooling-off period for Radke during the stretch made the difference in replacing him with the hard-throwing and hot-pitching Hawkins. But the move backfired when Hawkins had trouble controlling his fastball, gave up run-scoring hits to Alfonso Soriano and Jason Giambi, and compounded the troubles with a throwing error in between.

"You're going to get me or I'm going to get you," said Hawkins, who pitched an overpowering two innings Tuesday in the Twins' 3-1 series-opening victory. "They got me tonight. The balls they missed the other day they hit today. That was the difference."

Pettitte was another big difference, pitching four-hit ball for seven innings with a career post-season-high 10 strikeouts. New York's Mariano Rivera pitched two 1-2-3 innings to finish it.