As a Yankee fan I have enjoyed this late rally by the Twins for two reasons, first its actually made something about the last week of the baseball regular season relevant, and secondly it puts the Yankees 1st round opponent in a precarious situation. But now looking at it again, I think if the Twins win today it puts them in a very bad spot for their series against the Yankees.The Twins right now have 3 viable starters in Scott Baker, Carl Pavano and Nick Blackburn (if you call Pavano viable). Assuming the Yankees choose the long series, the Twins would not have had any rotational issues if not for the play-in game. The play-in game forces them into a precarious spot come wednesday as Blackburn would be the only option of the three to pitch and this would be on three days for the second consecutive game. Nick Blackburn isn't a bad pitcher but do you really want him throwing against the Yankees coming off limited rest?
If the Twins opt not to throw Blackburn than their options fall to Brian Duensing, Jeff Manship or Fransisco Liriano who has been a terrible disappointment in 2009. Picking this option would force the Twins into a 4 man rotation for the series and would likely push their current ace, Scott Baker back to the 4th game. A 4th game which may not even occur.
Obviously their concentration is on picking up the win today with their ace on the mound at home against a 20 year old, but if they do win, the rest of their season just might be short lived.
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