2009 ALDS

I've read too much about Game 1 to think I could write anything unique, especially since everyone seems to feel the same way. It went pretty much as expected, with the Twins playing a long, energy-sapping game the day before and getting into New York early that morning, and Brian Duensing pitching against C.C. Sabathia.

The negative, obviously, is that they lost. The positive is that that was the toughest game of the series to win. Not that any of the following ones will be easy, but the odds will certainly be more favorable than they were on Wednesday. Today Nick Blackburn will be pitching for the Twins, and A.J. Burnett for the Yankees. I question why Joe Girardi chose to start Burnett in Game 2 over Andy Pettitte, since he's been a little better than Burnett this year and the Twins have a lefty-heavy lineup.

Meanwhile, Ron Gardenhire should think about inserting Carlos Gomez back into his regular lineup and shifting Jason Kubel back to designated hitter. I didn't realize this myself, but rather read about it at Seth Speaks, but it makes total sense. Jose Morales has come down to earth and Brendan Harris has never been a DH-caliber hitter, meaning there's no good option to fill that spot in the lineup. At this point, it seems like an easy choice; what they would lose offensively in the drop-off from Harris or Morales to Gomez is minimal, but the defensive gain with Gomez in the outfield and Kubel not fielding at all would be tremendous.

That's pretty much all I've got. I'll start rolling out the massive year-in-review items this weekend, but exactly when a lot of the stuff is posted will depend on how the Twins do in the postseason.

Let's hope it has to wait.