The Twins faced the Yankees in the opening round of the playoffs in 2003 and 2004.  Like this year, the series opened in the Bronx.  Unlike this year, the Twins won Game 1 of both series.  They followed both games with three straight losses to the Yankees (the 2004 Game 2 loss being an extra-innings heartbreaker) to lose the series.

Will the new strategy of losing Game 1 pay off?  I think it's fool-proof.

I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, and the Bills opened this NFL season with a gut-wrenching loss to the New England Patriots.  The Bills took a 13-point lead in that game with about 6 minutes to go, then collapsed.   I read an article explaining that the Bills lost because they do not have a winning attitude.  They have such a history of losing the Big One, that their team, even if none of the players from the Super Bowl losses or the Music City Miracle (ha) remain, plays big games as if they are just waiting for the loss to happen.  The New England Patriots, this article explained, have established a winning culture this decade and they play as if they expect to win now.  Essentially, playing with these mentalities became self-fulfilling prophecies in this particular game.  

Whatever the merits of this arguement, it certainly feels like a valid explanation for the Twins' futility against the New York Yankees in Ron Gardenhire's managing tenure.  99.99999% of Yankees fans would probably say "How 'bout the Yankees are just the superior team"?

It seems to me to defy the law of averages that the Twins can be such a winning team overall, yet continue to display such futility against the Yankees.  They've lost all 8 games vs. the Yanks this season.  The Twins seem demonstrably better than the White Sox yet I personally witnessed the White Sox beat the Yankees in Chicago back in August.   That is a common phenomenon in sports, though.  Team X beat Team Y while Team Y beat Team Z but Team Z beat Team X.  But it shows that every once in a while, especially in baseball where so many games are played, just about any team can beat any team once in a while. 

The Twins took a 2-0 lead and I just knew the Yankees would get it back, and soon.  They did.  It seems feasible that the Twins could get a lead in the game.  But... it just somehow did not seem feasible that they could hold it until the end of the 9th inning.  What IS it?? 

Perhaps the losing Game 1 strategy is a desperate attempt to put the law of averages to work.  The only hope for the Twins is that the Yankees beat them 8 times out of 10, and while averages rarely play out perfectly, we must hope those two victories are in the next two games.

I thought Duensing pitched fine.  He got through the Yankees order the first time allowing only the 9th hitter to score thanks to a home-run by Jeter in Jeter's 2nd at-bat.  That's not Santana-esque (Johan started Game 1 in 2003 and 2004), but it demonstrates satisfactory composure for a rookie who was supposed to be roughly the 7th man in the Twins' rotation this year.  It was too bad he promptly surrendered the lead.  That he did seems to support the idea that the Twins play with a losing mentality and that nerves set in when they get a lead.  Oh no!  We have a lead, something bad is about to happen. 

Francisco Liriano was looking like the new Johan Santana in 2006.  He helped the Twins win the division that year, and was an All-Star.  He missed the next season after having Tommy John surgery, he has not been the same.  It does not appear he ever will be unless he finds himself on the St. Louis Cardinals- the team recently dubbed the Lourdes for wayward pitchers by Sports Illustrated.  So long as he is on the Twins he seems unreliable.  I did not feel good about Duensing getting pulled for Liriano in the 5th inning and FL validated my feeling by promptly letting the Yankees put the game out of reach.

Today's Star Tribune says the Twins had discussed pitching around A-Rod with two outs in the 5th inning and a runner on 2nd base (despite A-Rod's famous futility in these playoff situations), hoping to keep the score 3-2.   Duensing failed to follow orders, A-Rod got a run-scoring hit, and that was it for the Twins' starter.  

I hope Gardy honestly felt Liriano had a better chance to get the 3rd out.  I think I hope that.   It seems ridiculous for him to have that feeling, though.  One more out and Duensing at least gets an opportunity to be the pitcher of record. 

Well, it's done.  I didn't like it.  I disagree.  But I won't start calling for Gardenhire to go the way of Eric Wedge (the recently-fired Indians' manager) any time soon.

I was not too down about the loss.  It would be nice if the Twins could at least get one win this series.  It would be the utmost thrill if they found a way to win it.  If they get swept, I can't see myself feeling too awful about it. 

I hope they use this experience to learn as much as possible.  I hope they get something out of this series that helps them be a better team in the future.  Like money. 

I'm still feeling some disbelief that I even get to watch them in the playoffs so I will just enjoy that sight as much as possible cause it was more than I thought possible just two weeks ago.