The Minnesota Twins (0-1) could not get much going against the New York Yankees’ (1-0) ace C.C. Sabathia and lost the first game of the ALDS. The Twins did build an early 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning with an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer which also moved Joe Mauer to third.  Mauer then scored on a passed ball and the Twins were looking in great shape.  The Yankees answered right back with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning by one of the clutchest players in postseason play, Derek Jeter.  Jeter hit it off Brian Duensing, who made his first career postseason start tonight and got the loss.  Duensing went 4.2 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits.

The Yankee crowd exploded after Jeter’s homerun and the Yankees took all of the momentum from there.  In the two innings after Jeter’s homer, the Yankees scored four more runs with Hideki Matsui hitting a two-run homer after Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single.  The Twins did a good job building an early lead, but they need to do a better job in the later innings.  They only had four hits after there two-run 3rd inning and were not much of a threat throughout.  The Twins will look to bounce back in game two on Friday night in New York.

Jeff Cirillo and Rondell White have both been placed on the 15-day disabled list.  Cirillo will have knee surgery today on his left knee to repair torn cartilage and he’ll miss 3-6 weeks.  This hurts as the Twins signed Cirillo to provide insurance at 3B for Nick Punto and at DH for Jason Kubel.  Rondell White has been DLed because of a strained right calf.  He will likely only need the 15 days off to get back to the field.  The Twins have brought up Josh Rabe to help fill the void in LF with White out.