1-0
It started out poorly for the Twins. I’m not talking about the three errors and four unearned runs in the first two innings; I’m talking about getting lost on the way to the stadium. Several Twins players and General Manager Terry Ryan took the BART the wrong way and arrived late to the stadium. Quote of the day belongs to first baseman Doug “If You Think My Last Name is Bad Now, My Mom’s Maiden Name is Kechiemesiter” Mientkiewicz: “We’ve had guys go to the Astrodome even though the Astros don’t play there anymore. We’ve had guys go to Shea Stadium when we played the Yankees. You just realize we’re not the brightest group of players. But when you’re with the general manager, you figure you ought to be in good hands.”
Well the Twins refused to roll over and die or play the “just happy to be in the playoffs” game on their way to a 7-5 win. As I told my friend Steve yesterday, Art Howe made a bad decision starting Tim Hudson in Game 1. The Twins have a below .500 record against lefties, so why not hit them with Mulder and Zito right away? Now that the Twins have beaten the righthanded starter Tim Hudson they have effectively reversed the homefield advantage the A’s had. Additionally, since Hudson pitched Game 1, he will be back on the mound for Game 4 in Minnesota. Had Howe thrown both lefties first, he could have just given the Twins Game 3 with Hudson (the Twins nearly always win Game 1 of a home series, as the visiting team isn’t used to the Metrodome), and relied on winning three of the other four games, which would have been started by two of the best lefties in baseball.
Sometimes you make your own breaks; sometimes they just come to you.