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Yanks, Angels advance; Phils edge Rockies
By Daniel Dullum October 11, 2009 |
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The New York Yankees effectively shut the door on 28 years of indoor baseball in the Twin Cities, as they defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-1 Sunday at the Metrodome to sew up their American League Divisional Series with a three-game sweep. The Twins are moving into their new outdoor stadium, Target Field, in April 2010. In Boston, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim came from behind to edge the Red Sox 7-6, completing a three-game sweep as well. The Angels and Yankees will meet in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday in New York. Meanwhile, in the National League Divisional Series at Denver, Philadelphia took a 2-games-to-1 advantage by edging the Colorado Rockies 6-5. The Phillies can close out the series in game four on Monday afternoon at Coors Field. Yankees 4, Twins 1 The Bronx Bombers advanced to their first ALCS in five years behind the booming bat of Alex Rodriguez, who homered in the seventh inning along with Jorge Posada. A-Rod went 5-for-11 with two homers and six RBIs in the ALDS. Mariano Rivera got the final four outs, preserving Andy Pettite’s record-tying 15th postseason victory. Ex-Yankee Carl Pavano took the loss for Minnesota, despite setting a Twins postseason record with nine strikeouts. As in game two, baserunning gaffes again hurt Minnesota. Nick Punto wasted a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth when he failed to notice that Denard Span’s single to shallow left went no further than Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Span was thrown out trying to retreat to third base, killing a potential rally. The Twins stranded 26 baserunners in the first two games of the series. New York also eliminated the Twins from the playoffs at the Metrodome in 2003 and 2004. Angels 7, Red Sox 6 Los Angeles scored three runs off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning to earn the first postseason sweep in the Halos’ 49-year history. They accomplished this against a team that has knocked them out of the playoffs four times. An RBI double by Bobby Abreu and a two-run single by Vladimir Guerrero gave the Angels a 7-6 lead in the ninth. LA reliever Darren Oliver got one out in the ninth to pick up the win, while closer Brian Fuentes earned the save. It was Papelbon’s first postseason loss. Phillies 6, Rockies 5 Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning off Colorado closer Huston Street scored Jimmy Rollins and gave the Phils a one-game lead in their divisional series with the Rockies. Chase Utley hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning for Philadelphia, and Carlos Ruiz had a pair of RBI singles. Brad Lidge earned the save. For Colorado, Garrett Atkins drove in two runs with a single and a double, and Carlos Gonzalez tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth with a solo home run. |
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