It's the Yankees

It's the same old story. The Minnesota Twins can't beat the Yankees. For one reason or another, they just can't get back into the win column. It really gets harder and harder to watch the match-ups between these two ball clubs.

This series in the Bronx between the Twins and Yanks early in the season has been both over-hyped and at the same time, downplayed. "Can the Twins finally beat the Yankees?" (hype) "It doesn't matter in May, what matters is beating them in October." (downplay)

While it's true that this is early on in the regular season, I still hold a lot of importance in this weekend series in May. If the Twins can't beat the Yankees now, therefore proving to themselves that they actually can accomplish the task, then how do they expect to beat them come playoff time?

Still looking for a win
The 2010 Twins are much-improved and much-hyped as a team that has the potential to be a contender deep into the postseason. They currently lead the AL Central with a 22-14 record. By losing the first two games in New York, the Twins have only dropped their second series of the season. They lost Friday 8-4 and Saturday afternoon 7-1.

Friday was another example of a typical game between these two. The Twins had a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning before, in classic, Yankee-like dramatic fashion, things unraveled for the Twins.

With two on and Brian Duensing pitching, manager Ron Gardenhire elected to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira to fill first base for a potential double-play ball. Typical textbook move. Then, with the ever-dangerous Alex Rodriguez due up, Gardy sent Matt Guerrier to the mound. The match-up by the numbers? A-Rod was 4-for-6 against Matty with three homers and a double.

Big mistake
As you might expect, the Twins got burned. Mr. A-Rod cracked a grand slam to put the Yanks in front for good. I have a couple of thoughts here. If the Twins are going to lose to the Bombers, why can't they lose in an average 5-3 game? Why must the Yanks always get that dramatic home run or big hit to prevail? It's highly annoying.

My other thought is that Gardy was acting quite hypocritical. Here's what he had to say after the game: "We have all the confidence in the world in Matty. Numbers aren't everything."

"Numbers aren't everything"? Right. Looking at the numbers and going "by the book" is how you manage your team, Gardy. I'll admit that I don't always like the textbook ways in every situation, but this was not one of them. If there is ever a time to go with the numbers, it's against the Yankees.

Of course there will always be second-guessing of managerial moves based on the outcomes. But I like how Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan put it: "Second-guessing riles big-league managers, but there was a lot of first-guessing going on in the Yankee Stadium press box on Friday night."

Yankee mystique
Also, I vote that giving intentional passes to put a pinstriped-man on base should be outlawed in the Twins rulebook. You're just tempting fate. Sure, the double-play-ball theory works a good amount of the time, but you always have to remember: It's the Yankees.

It doesn't matter how you try and justify things, that the Twins are no longer an underdog team, they have the ability to beat New York, etc. Leaving out all other factors, the Yankees still possess a mystique about them that is intimidating and lucky.

Denard Span led off Saturday's game with what looked to be a base hit to center field. Instead, a diving catch was made to start the game. That says it all. The Twins have had more than a few bad-luck balls for outs that could have easily been base hits.

I'm not trying to get the Twins off the hook here, they still need to find a way to get the big, clutch hits, drive in runs and get wins against the Yanks. But there is also a small percentage of luck that just never seems to be there for them, and is always there for the Yanks. Of course, that's just my opinion.

In other sports news...
Yesterday was Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the IZOD IndyCar drivers began a string of practice sessions in preparation for the Indy 500. Practice sessions will take place every day next week (weather permitting) leading up to Pole Day next Saturday.

The month of May is always an exciting time for race fans. After all, the Indy 500 is the biggest one-day sporting event in the world. I'll be keeping up with all the action at Indy, and driver Marco Andretti, on my Marco Andretti Examiner page. Be sure to check it out to see the latest information with Indy.