The first playoff game at the new stadium was a happy affair as the Yankees defeated the Twins 7-2 on Wednesday night. C.C. Sabathia pitched well, striking out eight and allowing only two runs, one earned, over 6-2/3 innings. Sabathia only struggled in the third when he ran into trouble with two outs. With runners on second and third, Sabathia allowed a single to score a run and then Jorge Posada simply didn’t catch a Sabathia pitch allowing a second run and putting the Twins up 2-0.
But, Derek Jeter smacked a two-run homer to tie things up in the bottom of the inning. Nick Swisher broke the tie in the fourth with a RBI-single and A-Rod (Yes, A-Rod) provided a RBI single in the fifth when the Twins decided to pitch to him with two outs and first base open. Hideki Matsui had a two-run homer and A-Rod had another RBI (Yup, that's two RBI's for A-Rod) to provide the final margin. Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera combined to get the final seven outs. Game Two is Friday Night.
