Young's three doubles help push Twins past Yankees

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2008 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young smacked three RBI doubles, including the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Minnesota Twins rallied for a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees to salvage a split in their four-game series.

Michael Cuddyer went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored for the Twins, who won the final two of the series and have taken six of eight overall. Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

Matt Guerrier (3-1) earned the win with 1 2/3 shutout innings in relief of Livan Hernandez, who was tagged for five runs on 13 hits in six-plus frames. Joe Nathan worked a scoreless ninth for his 15th save in 16 chances.

Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer as part of a 3-for-4 night for the Yankees, who have dropped two straight after a three-game win streak. Derek Jeter went 3-for-5 with a double, while Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Jason Giambi collected two hits each.

Kyle Farnsworth (0-2) allowed a run on three hits in the eighth to take the loss in relief of Andy Pettitte, who surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits in seven innings.

"It's an extremely disappointing loss and I'm frustrated with my performance," Pettitte said. "The team gave me the lead three different times, and it's just unacceptable.

With Farnsworth trying to preserve a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth, Cuddyer led off with a double off the wall in right. Pinch-hitter Nick Punto then dropped a sacrifice bunt, and Young delivered his third double of the night by slashing a liner to the gap in right-center and giving the Twins a 6-5 lead.

Young was thrown out trying to steal, but Brendan Harris singled and pinch- hitter Mike Lamb walked, before Carlos Gomez stuck out as Farnsworth held the deficit to one run.

Rodriguez singled off Nathan to start the top of the ninth, but the Minnesota closer induced Hideki Matsui into a 4-6-3 double play, then got Giambi to line out to center to nail down the save.

"Especially dropping the first two in the series, to come back and win tonigh was huge," Cuddyer said. "We got down early tonight, chipped away, got down again, chipped away. It Seemed like every time they scored, we matched them. Then at the end we were able to get that one more run and Joe came on to close them out."

Rodriguez gave the Yankees a lead in the first, belting a two-out, two-run shot to left-center.

Young's first RBI double of the game pulled a run back in the home second.

A mistake by Pettitte allowed the Twins to tie the game in the third. Gomez singled with one out, and with Alexi Casilla at the plate, Pettitte threw away a pickoff attempt that allowed Gomez to head to third. Casilla then laid down a perfect drag bunt for an RBI single and a 2-2 tie.

With Robinson Cano on first and one out in the sixth, Chad Moeller clubbed a ground-rule double to left. Cabrera then flipped a soft single to left to score Cano and put the Yankees on top. Damon followed with a single through the right side of the infield to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead.

Singles by Mauer and Cuddyer sandwiched around a groundout by Justin Morneau put runners on first and third with one out in the home sixth. Craig Monroe then chopped a grounder up the middle the was backhanded by Cano, but his flip to Jeter at second was short of the bag and Cuddyer was ruled safe as Mauer came in to score. Young then tied the game with an RBI double to deep right.

Rodriguez roped a double to left to lead off the seventh, finishing off Hernandez's outing. Dennys Reyes came on in relief, but walked Matsui and sent Rodriguez to third with a wild pitch. Giambi hit a soft bouncer to Morneau, but Rodriguez beat the throw to the plate to score the go-ahead run.

Pettitte, however, couldn't hold the lead in the bottom half. After retiring the first two batters, Mauer turned on an inside fastball and deposited it over the wall in right for his first homer of the season.

"I didn't see the replay, but Chad told me that we got it in there and it was just a crucial on my part," Pettitte said. "It's just stupid, to give him a chance to hurt me with something on the inside corner. My location was just great in there all night, he cheated to get to it. He was probably looking to take me deep, and I played in there one too many times, obviously."

Game Notes

Twins rookie Matt Macri had his first career double...The Yankees had 15 hits, but were just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base...Minnesota was 6-for-13 with men in scoring position...The Twins conclude their seven-game homestand with three games against Baltimore, starting Tuesday...The Yankees return home to open a three-game set with the Blue Jays.