Death, taxes, and the Yankees beating the Twins in the postseason. Thankfully for New York and their fans, the 2009 ALDS matchup between the franchises was no exception to the now-long-running tradition.
The Yankees were coming off of a relatively comfortable 7-2 victory in Game 1, on the back of a gutsy 113-pitch outing from CC Sabathia. Game 2 pitted A.J. Burnett against Minnesota’s Nick Blackburn, who both pitched over 200 innings on the year, with ERAs just over 4.00. The stage was set for a memorable October matchup.
Final Score: Yankees 4, Twins 3
Game MVPs: Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez
In fitting fashion, with each starter having mirroring season stat lines, both Burnett and Blackburn put up similar lines in Game 2.