Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees, 8 PM ET (game 2)
The Yankees should be feeling very motivated to put on a solid show after their fielding gaffes in game 1. The Twins do not have very good numbers against lefthanders and Brad Radke will have to be careful not to groove his pitches. The home team is as a heavy a favourite as there's been so far in the playoffs.
| versus | AB | H | HR | TB | W | K | HBP | SB | CS | OBP | SLG | K pct | W pct |
| right | 591 | 169 | 19 | 270 | 17 | 79 | 6 | 6 | 4 | .313 | .457 | .129 | .028 |
| left | 704 | 197 | 25 | 319 | 31 | 103 | 6 | 11 | 4 | .316 | .453 | .139 | .042 |
Radke has one of the tiniest left-right splits you'll ever see, at least over his last 2 years. The Yankees will score runs in proportion to their extra-base hits (Radke walks very few batters). I fear that he may give up some homeruns tonight, with Giambi, Soriano and Posada being the three best candidates to go long.
| Player | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | W | K | SB | CS | HBP | avg | obp | slg |
| A Soriano | 1107 | 322 | 67 | 5 | 62 | 40 | 230 | 60 | 12 | 22 | .291 | .330 | .528 |
| D Jeter | 902 | 271 | 43 | 3 | 20 | 88 | 165 | 32 | 8 | 15 | .300 | .372 | .421 |
| J Giambi | 795 | 236 | 45 | 1 | 67 | 185 | 167 | 3 | 3 | 21 | .297 | .442 | .609 |
| B Williams | 761 | 226 | 41 | 2 | 26 | 105 | 116 | 9 | 4 | 3 | .297 | .384 | .459 |
| J Posada | 735 | 192 | 42 | 1 | 37 | 133 | 197 | 3 | 4 | 10 | .261 | .382 | .472 |
| H Matsui | 428 | 123 | 33 | 1 | 13 | 50 | 55 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .287 | .363 | .460 |
| A Boone | 895 | 236 | 50 | 3 | 41 | 60 | 167 | 41 | 8 | 15 | .264 | .321 | .464 |
| N Johnson | 568 | 153 | 27 | 0 | 25 | 99 | 117 | 6 | 5 | 13 | .269 | .390 | .449 |
| J Rivera | 196 | 49 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 | .293 | .388 |
notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.
I was thinking about all the double plays Hideki Matsui has grounded into this year. The best solution with this lineup, I think, would be to bat Matsui 7th behind Soriano. Soriano doesn't walk much and likes to steal bases and so there would be very few opportunities for Matsui to GIDP.
| versus | AB | H | HR | TB | W | K | HBP | SB | CS | OBP | SLG | K pct | W pct |
| right | 1038 | 273 | 20 | 395 | 66 | 207 | 3 | 16 | 5 | .309 | .381 | .187 | .060 |
| left | 326 | 98 | 7 | 134 | 16 | 70 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .337 | .411 | .203 | .047 |
Like most good lefthanded starters, Andy Pettitte is effective against right-handed batters. When he's pitching well, he'll break his cutter in on their fists. On other nights he leaves it out over the plate and it gets hammered.
| Player | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | W | K | SB | CS | HBP | avg | obp | slg |
| S Stewart | 268 | 85 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 30 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 4 | .317 | .394 | .474 |
| L Rivas | 237 | 51 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 42 | 6 | 5 | 2 | .215 | .273 | .325 |
| D Mientkiewicz | 320 | 86 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 41 | 44 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .269 | .364 | .447 |
| M LeCroy | 221 | 65 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 22 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .294 | .361 | .511 |
| J Jones | 305 | 73 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 91 | 5 | 3 | 3 | .239 | .284 | .361 |
| T Hunter | 336 | 92 | 22 | 3 | 15 | 33 | 66 | 13 | 5 | 1 | .274 | .341 | .491 |
| C Koskie | 329 | 79 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 41 | 100 | 6 | 3 | 9 | .240 | .340 | .380 |
| AJ Pierzynski | 224 | 62 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 10 | .277 | .316 | .429 |
| C Guzman | 378 | 96 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 52 | 9 | 8 | 2 | .254 | .291 | .384 |
notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.
The Twins will likely get 2 or 3 runs by scratching out a few singles. I don't think it will be enough: I have a feeling tonight will not be a night for small ball.
