Monkeys Removed

There were a lot of heroes for the Yankees tonight as they beat the Twins 7-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the ALDS. Jeter was 2-2 with two walks and an early game tying homer. Nick Swisher had the go-ahead, gamewinning double, and Hideki Matsui basically put the game away with a two run shot. But, the big stories tonight were really Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia. ARod went 2-4 with 2 two out RBI singles, ending a long streak of failure and criticism that went back to 2004. And CC Sabathia pitched 6.2 innings of 2 run 1 earned 8 K ball, putting to rest the idea that a rested CC can't deal in the postseason, where only an overworked CC had been used before. Hughes came in and got a big K with two on and two out to end the 7th, then combined with Coke and Joba for a 1 hit (Mauer) 8th. Mariano pitched the 9th with a 5 run lead. Huge win and there was definitely a different feel to the team tonight than to any of the last few playoff teams. They stayed loose and kept grinding. One down, ten to go. Go Yanks!