Minneapolis is a modern Mudville tonight. Gloom hangs like the first snow snow clouds of a bitter upper-midwestern autumn over shell-shocked Twins fans. A mere three outs from stealing the New York Yankees' home-field advantage in their American League Division Series, and holding a seemingly comfortable two-run lead as closer Joe Nathan entered to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, Minnesota blew its golden opportunity. A Mark Teixeira single, followed by a game-tying two-run opposite-field home run by Alex Rodriguez, sent the game to extra innings.
In the eleventh, the Twins loaded the bases with nobody out—then promptly recorded three consecutive outs, without scoring. Teixeira mashed a Jose Mijares offering into the left-field seats in the bottom half of the frame, and the Twins officially found themselves down two games to none as the Series heads west.
Temptations will be strong to pin the loss on Nathan.
Another culprit could be left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi, who missed a call on a slicing 11th-inning line drive down the left-field line by Twins superstar Joe Mauer. Cuzzi called the ball foul, though replays showed the ball clearly fell in fair territory. Robbed of a double, Mauer would reach on a single up the middle, but died on third base when Brendan Harris flew out to Brett Gardner in center.
Of course, that blame could also fall on Harris, Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez, who spoiled the threat posed by back-to-back-to-back singles from Mauer, Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer.
But the truly crucial, not to mention fascinating turning point in the game came neither in the ninth, nor the eleventh. Rather, the moment that should live in our collective memory of this game, that captures the taut and anachronistic drama of post-season baseball, came in the top of the fourth inning.
With Gomez and Young on first and second, respectively, after being hit by A.J. Burnett pitches, third baseman Matt Tolbert singled sharply into right field. Young, with above-average speed, tore around second and never slowed up as he raced for home plate.
Right fielder Nick Swisher came up firing, but not for the plate. Instead, he aimed his peg toward the area just behind second base, where Derek Jeter took the throw, spun, and placed the tag on a nonplussed Gomez.
Gomez had fallen in the course of digging around the keystone sack, and by the time he could scramble back toward the base, he fell neatly into the arms of Jeter.
It was the third out, and the inning was over.
Nor was that the worst news for Minnesota. Because Gomez had failed to evade Jeter for even an extra moment, Young had not crossed the plate before the Yankee shortstop applied his tag. By rule, the run therefore didn't count. The score remained even at zeros, and the game headed to the bottom of the fourth.
Gomez's failure to turn and sprint away from the waiting tag represents an indefensible lapse of hustle, or else game intelligence.
From a player who plays with notoriously non-stop energy, it must have been the latter. This assessment gains extra credibility from the look of bewilderment that hung on the center fielder's face as he picked himself up out of the Yankee Stadium dirt.
On the flip side, however, it also reminds us all of the uniquely urgent tenor of playoff baseball.
The situation that arose, wherein Young had to cross the plate before Gomez was tagged in order to tally an official score, is one of the very few in the game that work anything like the race against the clock featured in the other two major American sports.
It adds excitement, and plunges the game into the same sort of hurried chaos that ensues on last-second Hail Mary passes, or prayerful buzzer-beaters. This is not strictly within the general spirit of the game, but that does not make it entirely unwelcome.
In fact, the play that unfolded in the fourth inning provides a wonderfully entertaining microcosm of the Series, and of post-season baseball in general. For the Yankees, it illustrated the club's ability to capitalize on the opposition's mistakes, and to execute intelligently and skillfully. For the Twins, it stands as a reminder of their thin margin for error, given the surpassing quality of the team they face.
And as far as October baseball itself is concerned, the play shows the urgency of the game when three losses can mean the end of a season, and when one run (or out) can change the momentum of a Series. Everything takes on added intensity in these circumstances, and so plays like this one seem all the more crucial.
Unfortunately for the Twins, they don't only seem more crucial.
They are so. Minnesota came up on the short end of one key strategic, athletic play, and it cost them a run in what would eventually be a one-run loss.
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