Jeter Leads Yanks Into Postseason

After a year break, the Yankees are once again in the postseason, and Derek Jeter continues to deliver, setting the table with a home run to propel the Yanks to a win over the Minnesota Twins in the first game of the A.L.D.S.

It seems almost as if Jeter sets another record with nearly each hit. His list of accomlpsihments keeps growing, and this year he achieved one of the most historic feats of his career when he passed Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankees hits leader.

Since then he has cracked the top-50 all-time in Major League history, and each hit draws him closer to 3,000, a plateau that he should reach sometime in the 2011 season.

There is only one active player with more hits than the Captain, and that is Ken Griffey, Jr., with about 20 more hits. And the way that Junior exited the field after Seattle's final game this season, it appears that 2009 may have been his last season.

CC Sabathia gave up two quick runs last night in game one, but Jeter's shot pulled both the Yankees and the fans right back into the ball game, and the Yankees kept the momentum going until they built their lead.

Even Alex Rodriguez produced, as he FINALLY picked up a hit with a runner in scoring position, something that he had not in any of his previous 19 postseason at-bats. A-Rod took it a step further when he slapped another shot into the right field corner later in the game, driving in another run.

Sabathia went on to have a fine outing, now let's see what happens in game two.

The Twins have a lot of confidence and momentum going into this series, and losing the first game will not deflate them. After all, pretty much every road team loses the first game of any series, so they won't be all that dejected by the loss. What the Yankees need to do is sweep at home, and that might darken Minnesota's perspective on the series.

Minnesota is the type of team in the postseason where you have to stand on their proverbial necks and not let up. If you go into that dome and the fans have anything at all to cheer about, you won't be able to hear yourself think, and that can rattle a visiting ball club.

That's what the Twins are counting on, and that's what the Yankees must prevent.

Go into Minnesota with a two-games-to-none lead, score first in game three, and New York should be watching the other series to see who they play in the second round.