Andy Pettitte, adding to his glowing resume, and Carl Pavano, finally pitching the game he was always meant to pitch, locked last night in a tense pitching duel that was playoff baseball at its best. The Twins broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, but the lead didn’t last a half inning, as in the top of the seventh, Alex Rodriguez (continuing his torrid ALDS) and Jorge Posada hit solo homers to take the lead. The Twins might have equaled things in the bottom of the eighth when Nick Punto led off with a double and Dennard Span hit a sharp grounder up the middle. Punto must have thought the ball was headed for the outfield, because he rounded third and headed for home. But Derek Jeter, moving far to his left with range he 
was no longer supposed to possess, fielded the grounder, and threw a one-hopper to Posada, who fired to Rodriguez to nab Punto scrambling back to third. The Yanks added two in the ninth for a 4-1 lead, and Mariano Rivera added a four-out save. After the game, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire praised the Yanks. “It’s a great baseball team,” he said. “They deserve all the accolades. They have got a great bullpen. Those guys come out there firing. Bench. The whole package. They’ve got the whole package, they’ve got the whole deal, and they have got some of the classiest players in the league out there, guys I really enjoy watching play. I hate it when I play against them because they kill us, but I enjoy watching Derek Jeter and A-Rod and those guys play. Those guys are very talented and classy people out in the field.” Pretty classy yourself, Gardy. Friday night: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
