Major League Baseball
LANCE PARTY HAS YANKS GROOVING - BERKMAN HELPS BOMBERS GRAB 2-0 LEAD
Major League Baseball

LANCE PARTY HAS YANKS GROOVING - BERKMAN HELPS BOMBERS GRAB 2-0 LEAD

Published Oct. 8, 2010 10:23 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS - When he was on the Yankees' dole collecting millions, Carl Pavano went soft every time the medical staff told him he was close to being ready to pitch.

So, it didn't shock veteran "American Idle" watchers that a call that didn't go his way in a big spot would turn Pavano's spine to goo.

When Pavano didn't get a third strike called against Lance Berkman in the seventh inning of the ALDS Game 2 last night at Target Field, the soft-as-fresh snow Pavano reacted by giving up an RBI double to Berkman that helped lift the Yankees to a 5-2 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series that shifts to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 tomorrow night.

"It's nice to go home with two [wins], hopefully we can do it there," said Mariano Rivera, who recorded the final three outs for his second save in two games and hiked his all-time postseason save record to 41.

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There was plenty more to the Yankees' latest conquest of the Twins, a team they eliminated in the 2003, 2004 and 2009 ALDS, than plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt missing a 1-2 pitch on Berkman.

Andy Pettitte allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. Berkman homered in the fifth off Pavano leading Nick Swisher to label the Texas residents, "Texas Two-Steps."

Curtis Granderson went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Kerry Wood blew the Twins away in the eighth with 95-mph fastballs. And Rivera was Rivera.

Still, Wendelstedt's call was the turning point and resulted in Twins manager Ron Gardenhire getting ejected by Wendelstedt.

Gardenhire and Wendelstedt have a history of bitterness, but Gardenhire said that has been buried.

"I thought the ball was a strike. He didn't call it a strike and I wanted to make sure he knew it," Gardenhire said. "But I wanted to get him away from my guys because there are a lot of guys full of emotion at the time and I wanted Carl to concentrate."

Good luck.

"Sometimes it gets called and sometimes it doesn't," Berkman said of the fastball that started inside and darted over the corner. "It's one of those things that happens and I am glad that the call went our way. The next time it might not."

Those who lived through the Yankees' 2004 ALCS collapse against the Red Sox aren't icing the champagne and beer.

"You try to win every game you play, but it's no cause for celebration," said Derek Jeter, who delivered an RBI single in the seventh. "It's not the best two out of three. We still haven't done anything yet."

Outside of winning two very close games on the road and holding the Twins hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Other than Wendelstedt assisting, Pettitte was the biggest reason for the victory. With the bases loaded and one out in the second, Pettitte gave up a sacrifice fly to Danny Valencia for a 1-0 Twins lead. It was the eighth straight ALDS game the Twins took the lead against the Yankees. However, Pettitte got J.J. Hardy to line out and escaped with just one run being scored.

"I think the biggest part is being able to control your emotions," said Pettitte, who hiked his record postseason win total to 19.

With nine innings possibly left in their season, the Twins need to win two in The Bronx to force a Game 5 at home.

"We have to figure out a way to beat the Yankees," Gardenhire said.

It's a chore the Twins have been at for a while.

INSIDE PITCH

Game 2: Yankees 5, Twins 2

HERO

Andy Pettitte, making his 41st career postseason start, pitched seven strong innings to earn his 19th postseason win, a major league record. The 38-year-old lefty broke bats and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning after allowing Danny Valencia's sacrifice fly. Pettitte then retired 12 in a row until Orlando Hudson homered in the sixth.

ZERO

Ron Gardenhire's longrunning feud with home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt flared up just after Lance Berkman's seventh-inning double gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Under Gardenhire, the Twins have lost 11 straight postseason games and eight of those defeats have come against the Yankees.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

"I had a chance to make another pitch after that and [Berkman] hit it off the wall. That was what lost me the game." - Carl Pavano

KEY MOMENT

In the seventh inning of a 2-2 game, Carl Pavano appeared to have Berkman struck out, but Wendelstedt called the 2-2 pitch a ball. Berkman doubled on the next pitch to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

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