Twins vs. Yankees
A look at the best-of-5 American League division series between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees:
Schedule: (All times Pacific)
Game 1, today, at New York (4:09 p.m., Fox 28);
Game 2, Wednesday, at New York (4:09 p.m., ESPN);
Game 3, Friday, at Minnesota (5:09 p.m., ESPN);
Game 4, Saturday, at Minnesota (if necessary, TBA);
Game 5, Sunday, at New York (if necessary, TBA).
Season series: New York won 4-2.
Projected lineups
Twins: LF Shannon Stewart (.304, 11 HRs, 47 RBIs in 378 at-bats), RF Jacque Jones (.254, 24, 80), CF Torii Hunter (.271, 23, 81, 21 Stolen Bases), 1B Justin Morneau (.271, 19, 58 in 280 ABs), 3B Corey Koskie (.251, 25, 71), DH Lew Ford (.299, 15, 72, 20 SBs), 2B Michael Cuddyer (.263, 12, 45 in 339 ABs), SS Cristian Guzman (.274, 8, 46), C Henry Blanco (.206, 10, 37) or Pat Borders (.232, 1, 10).
Yankees: SS Derek Jeter (.292, 23, 78, 23 SBs), 3B Alex Rodriguez (.286, 36, 106, 28 SBs), RF Gary Sheffield (.290, 36, 121, 117 runs), CF Bernie Williams (.262, 22, 70), C Jorge Posada (.272, 21, 81), LF Hideki Matsui (.298, 31, 108), DH Ruben Sierra (.244, 17, 65), 1B John Olerud (.259, 9, 48 with Seattle and New York), 2B Miguel Cairo (.292, 6, 42).
Projected rotations
Twins: LH Johan Santana (20-6, 2.61 ERA, 165 hits and A.L.-high 265 Ks in 228 innings), RH Brad Radke (11-8, 3.48), RH Carlos Silva (14-8, 4.21).
Yankees: RH Mike Mussina (12-9, 4.59), RH Jon Lieber (14-8, 4.33), RH Orlando Hernandez (8-2, 3.30) or RH Kevin Brown (10-6, 4.09), RH Javier Vazquez (14-10, 4.91).
Relievers
Twins: RH Joe Nathan (1-2, 1.62, 44/47 saves, 48 hits and 89 Ks in 72 1/3 IP), RH Juan Rincon (11-6, 2.63, 52 hits and 106 Ks in 82 IP), LH J.C. Romero (7-4, 3.51), RH Jesse Crain (3-0, 2.00 in 27 IP), RH Grant Balfour (4-1, 4.35), LH Terry Mulholland (5-9, 5.18 in 39 games, 15 starts), RH Kyle Lohse (9-13, 5.34 in 35 games, 34 starts).
Yankees: RH Mariano Rivera (4-2, 1.94, 53/57 saves), RH Tom Gordon (9-4, 2.21, 4), RH Paul Quantrill (7-3, 4.72), RH Tanyon Sturtze (6-2, 5.47), LH Felix Heredia (1-1, 6.28), RH Esteban Loaiza (10-7, 5.70 with the White Sox and Yankees).
Matchups
This is a rematch of last season’s division series, which the Yankees won in four games. New York has won 20 of last 23 against Minnesota, including playoffs. Twins’ bullpen struggled at Yankee Stadium last week as New York swept in a three-game series – but all games were competitive. Minnesota took two of three at Metrodome from Aug. 17-19, and Yankees needed a rally against Nathan to avoid a sweep. … Mussina is 20-3 in 25 career regular-season starts against Twins. Though they beat him 3-1 in Game 1 last year and again 7-2 at Metrodome on Aug. 18, current Twins are hitting collective .187 against Mussina in 252 at-bats. … Sheffield batted .350 (7 for 20) with three HRs and eight RBIs against Minnesota this year. … Matsui was 8 for 20 (.400) with three HRs and seven RBIs. … Koskie went 10 for 17 with HR and six RBIs against Yankees. … Twins finished with 191 homers, highest total since 1987 – when they won World Series.