In which Double-Duty Jaffe returns to his East Coast bias…

After the rollercoaster Game Two of the Yankees-Twins Divisional Series, I voiced the sentiment that Yankee haters might be getting tired of such seemingly scripted October heroics. Following Saturday’s ballgame, the response from anyone answering my rhetorical query might echo a certain pinstriped sage: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Of course, Yankee fans might sieze upon an even more applicable Yogi Berra quote: “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

The Twins had the Yankees down 5-1 after five innings, in position to force a decisive Game Five. After Granny Gooden-ing his way through the first four frames, Yankee starter Javier Vazquez had finally slipped on the icy staircase, giving up a homer to .206-hitting Henry Blanco and a pair of runs on a double by smilin’ Lew Ford. When Esteban Loaiza, a pitcher who has “stunk up New York like a 30-day garbage strike” came on with his mop and bucket to clean up aisle six, I turned to the All-Baseball Alexes (Belth and Ciepley) with whom I was watching the game and noshing, and called the move a white flag. Master of the obvious, I told them, “They’re saving the real pitchers for Game Five.”

But Twins starter Johan Santana, pitching on three days’ rest, had given way himself in the top of the sixth. After 87 pitches and seven strikeouts — two of Derek Jeter on changeups in the dirt as the raucous Metrodome crowd chanted “over-rated!” — the young ace stiffened up while the Twins added to their lead. From the New York Daily News:

“He was done. He was going to go back out there, but then the inning got really long and he was trying to stretch, and he told me you better get someone to go back out for me,” [Twins manager Ron] Gardenhire said. “He told me he was tired, but he would go at least one more (inning).

“But as the inning went along, you could see he was done. The kid had done everything he could do. He did what he was supposed to do.”

Santana had uncorked 57 pitches over his first three innings. He believed the Yankees intentionally adjusted the approach they had taken against him in the series opener, changing from aggressive first-ball swingers into their more traditional patient tact.

“I think they were trying to wear me out,” he said, “but I stayed with it. I’m not going to let you hit me.”

When Grant Balfour took the baton from Santana and mowed down six straight Yankee hitters — 28 pitches, 19 strikes, it looked as though Santana’s fatigue would matter little. The Yanks looked cooked.

But on the other side of the ball, Loaiza held the Twins at bay. Despite racking up three hits in the sixth and one in the seventh, the Twins failed to put a run over thanks to the golden arm of Jorge Posada. The Yankee catcher gunned down Michael Cuddyer trying to steal for the first out of the sixth and nailed Ford to end the seventh. Still, it seemed as though the efforts of the Yankee battery would do little but keep the score respectable.

When Gary Sheffield beat out an infield single to lead off the eighth against Juan Rincon and Hideki Matsui followed with a walk, our little party came to life. Ciepley, who was rooting for the Twins, foretold doom three hitters down the line in the form of the Yankees’ ancient, bald-headed DH. “Ruben Sierra is going to tie this game,” he declared, drawing guffaws and my own imitation of Sierra’s mellifluous voice.

Bernie Williams stroked a single to narrow the gap to 5-2 and bring the tying run to the plate. As the tying run strode to the plate in the form of Posada, the Fox cameras panned the crowd and showed poignant shots of fretting Twins fans. After going to a full count against Rincon, Posada struck out, allowing Sierra to test Ciepley’s thesis. When Ruben smacked Rincon’s sixth pitch into the Hefty Bag in right-center for a game-tying three-run homer, the boisterous Metrodome crowd fell dead silent. Belth and I high-fived as Sierra, the Yankees’ prodigal son, circled the bases. We shouldn’t have doubted Alex; as a Cubs fan, he knew too much about foretelling doom. The telecast cutting to show several shots of heads in hands, Twins fans on the verge of tears. Yes, Minnesota, the Yankees break hearts for a living. You already knew that.

As if Gardenhire were still in shock, he left Rincon in for one more hitter. John Olerud doubled to deep centerfield while the Twins manager summoned Joe Nathan. The Twins closer struck out Miguel Cairo to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

With the game tied, Joe Torre switched to his A-list of relievers. Tom Gordon yielded a two-out double to Jason Kubel, pinch-hitting for Blanco, but escaped further damage when Jeter snared Shannon Stewart’s liner just before it could fall.

The Yanks threatened in the ninth against Nathan. Just as they were showing the relevant footage of Game Two, Alex Rodriguez hit a carbon-copy ground-rule double to left-center. Nathan retired Sheffield on a popup, walked the hot-hitting Matsui intentionally, then outlasted Bernie Williams for a seven-pitch strikeout. But a strike to Posada got away from catcher Pat Borders, who had replaced Blanco. A-Rod took third, Matsui second. Two pitches later, Posada whiffed, but for the 41-year-old former World Series MVP, it was a bad omen.

Gordon worked a spotless ninth. Kyle Lohse, the Twins’ fourth starter and the inferior alternative to short-rested Santana, came on in relief of Nathan and worked a 1-2-3 tenth. Mariano Rivera took the ball in the bottom of the inning and erased the Twins on ten pitches.

Lohse struck out Jeter to start the eleventh, Jeter’s fourth K on the day. But Rodriguez doubled down the leftfield line, and when Lohse got his second strike on Sheffield, A-Rod boldly stole third base. People know about his power, but the man was an impressive 28/32 swiping bags on the year. Money.

Battling back from 1-2, Sheffield fouled off a couple of pitches and took a ball. Lohse’s seventh pitch was a slider in the dirt that Borders couldn’t handle, and the $252 million dollar man scored the go-ahead run standing up. That was all the Yanks needed, as Rivera Mo’d the Twins down in the eleventh to clinch the series and set up a hotly-anticipated ALCS rematch with the Red Sox. Boston, who eliminated the Angels on Friday, ought to be well-rested by the time the series opens in the Bronx on Tuesday.

No sooner than the Yanks had broken out the bubbly to celebrate than reality intruded. First, Flash Gordon was hit in the eye by a cork popped at close range. Worse — much worse — the sobbing wife of Mariano Rivera’s wife entered Torre’s office and delivered shocking news that two of her family members had died when they were electrocuted by an electric fence surrounding a swimming pool at Rivera’s Panamanian home. A horrible capper to an otherwise great day.

• • •

Somewhere, the hyperbole and trash-talk between Sox and Yanks fans has already begun, but before I turn my attentions to the ALCS, I’m determined to enjoy this Yankee win a bit more. Additionally, I’ve got the Dodgers to savor for at least nine more innings.

My to-do list also requires that I extend a tip of the cap to the spunky Twins and their fine fans — bloggers such as the Twins Geek, Batgirl, Seth Strohs, Twins Fan Dan and Aaron Gleeman, their legions of followers, and my fianceé Andra’s extended family — on a fine season that ultimately came up a bit short. The Twins battled the Yankees valiantly but were undone by their own mistakes, many of them emanating from Gardenhire’s bullpen blueprint or lack of same. As good as they’ve been in winning three straight AL Central titles, I suspect there will be plenty of discussion whether Gardy’s the man to take them the next step of the way, and I don’t envy that in the least.

Finally, I’m going to have to spend some time poking through the stats so that I can fill out my ballot for the Internet Baseball Awards whose banner I designed and whose voting ends Monday at 11 PM PST. Vote if you haven’t already.