AL DIVISION SERIES
Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees
6:07 p.m. Central, MLB Network
SCHEDULE All times Central GAME 1 Today at New York, 6:07 p.m. (MLB Network); GAME 2 Saturday at New York, 4:07 p.m. (Fox Sports 1); GAME 3 Monday at Minnesota (FS1 or MLB Network); GAME 4 (if necessary) Oct. 8 at Minnesota, TBA (FS1); GAME 5 (if necessary) Oct. 10 at New York, TBA (FS1)
SEASON SERIES Yankees won 4-2.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
TWINS
POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI
C Mitch Garver .273 31 67
SS Jorge Polanco .295 22 79
DH Nelson Cruz .311 41 108
3B Miguel Sano .247 34 79
LF Eddie Rosario .276 32 109
CF Max Kepler .252 36 90
1B C.J. Cron .253 25 78
RF Marwin Gonzalez .264 15 55
2B Jonathan Schoop .256 23 59
STARTING PITCHER
PITCHER REC. ERA
RH Jose Berrios 14-8 3.68
RELIEVERS
LH Taylor Rogers (2-4, 2.61 ERA, 30/36 saves), RH Sergio Romo (0-1, 3.18, 3/5 saves with Twins; 2-0, 3.58, 17/18 saves with Marlins), RH Tyler Duffey (5-1, 2.50), RH Trevor May (5-3, 2.94), RH Zack Littell (6-0, 2.68), RH Brusdar Graterol (1-1, 4.66), RH Randy Dobnak (2-1, 1.59), RH Kyle Gibson (13-7, 4.84).
YANKEES
POS. PLAYER AVG. HR RBI
1B DJ LeMahieu .327 26 102
RF Aaron Judge .272 27 55
CF Brett Gardner .251 28 74
LF Giancarlo Stanton .288 3 13
C Gary Sanchez .232 34 77
DH Edwin Encarnacion .244 34 86
SS Didi Gregorius .238 16 61
2B Gleyber Torres .278 38 90
3B Gio Urshela .314 21 74
STARTING PITCHER
PITCHER REC. ERA
LH James Paxton 15-6 3.82
RELIEVERS
LH Aroldis Chapman (3-2, 2.21, 37/42 saves), LH Zack Britton (3-1, 1.91, 3 saves), RH Adam Ottavino (6-5, 1.90, 2 saves), RHP Tommy Kahnle (3-2, 3.67), LH J.A. Happ (12-8, 4.91), RH Luis Cessa (2-1, 4.11), RH Jonathan Loaisiga (2-2, 4.55).
Matchups
Sixth playoff meeting between teams and Yankees have advanced each time with 3-1 ALDS victories in 2003 and 2004, 3-0 ALDS sweeps in 2009 and 2010, and 8-4 victory in 2017 wild-card game after falling behind 3-0. ... Since 2002, including the 13-2 postseason record, Yankees are 100-37 against Twins. ... Yankees took two of three from Minnesota at home in May and two of three at Target Field in July series that included 20 home runs -- 12 by New York. In that series, the Yankees outscored the Twins 30-27 but had 48 hits, including 24 for extra bases. The victory by New York on July 23, a 14-12 decision in 10 innings, was just the second major league game in past 40 years with blown leads in top of the eighth, bottom of the eighth, top of the ninth and bottom of the ninth. ... Polanco, Rosario and Kepler were the only Twins starters in lineup for 2017 wild-card game expected to factor in this series. ... Minnesota rookie skipper Rocco Baldelli will be managing his first postseason game, after replacing 2017 American League Manager of the Year Paul Molitor following last season. ... Right fielder Jake Cave and Littell are former Yankees farmhands. Cave arrived in 2018 trade for minor leaguer Luis Gil, and Littell was acquired in 2017 deal for pitcher Jaime Garcia. ... Minnesota set a major league record with 307 home runs, one more than Yankees and both well above previous mark of 267 established by New York last year. Twins had six players with 25 or more home runs; Yankees had five. Minnesota had 11 in double digits; Yankees a record 14. ... Minnesota has lost seven consecutive postseason rounds since beating Oakland in 2002 division series.
Watch For
• BULLPEN GAMES The loss of former Yankees starter Michael Pineda to suspension for a banned diuretic was a big hit to Twins rotation. They also watched Gibson struggle down the stretch after a yearlong fight with ulcerative colitis, and Perez regress with a 6.27 ERA and 16 home runs allowed in 14 starts after the All-Star break. Dobnak, who was pitching in an independent league two summers ago and was selected the organization's minor league player of the year after an unexpectedly rapid rise through the system, would be a strong candidate to serve as an opener. There is a stack of hard-throwing righties ready for Baldelli to run out against the Yankees and their right-handed-heavy lineup. On the other side, Green could be used as an opener in Game 4 to fill a hole in New York's thin rotation.
• HEALTH CARE Though the Twins didn't lose as many games to injuries as the massive number weathered by New York, they did endure plenty of their own setbacks this year, beginning with Buxton's absence. The status of Kepler, who started only two of the last 19 games because of shoulder soreness, was still not certain when the week began. Arraez, the rookie who provided a huge boost to an injury-depleted lineup with his versatility in the field and well-beyond-his-years presence at the plate, was an even bigger question mark for the start of the series after spraining his ankle in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Sports on 10/04/2019