There's the scorecard from the losing team in Game 2 of the ALDS. You'll notice a couple of small diamonds filled in. That's it. Two runs.

You'll notice the first of those came in the second inning, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. Minnesota fans could be forgiven for not getting too excited about that. See, the Twins have now lost eight consecutive games to the Yankees in the postseason. And in each of those games, the Twins have at one point held a lead. Sometimes it's been early. Sometimes it's been late. Often it's been very short-lived. But always, at some point, ahead.

You won't notice the Yankees' half of the seventh inning, when Carl Pavano was absolutely robbed of a called third strike on Lance Berkman. But, as Lance correctly said, that's baseball. You have to make the next pitch, too. Pavano's next offering actually wasn't that bad (down in the zone, with some movement), but Berkman lashed it for a double and the go-ahead run. Those who had seen the script before had a pretty bad feeling at that point.

You'll notice, though, that it isn't luck that keeps the Yankees on one side of the ledger and the Twins on the other. Sure, the Berkman play was a bad break. The Twins caught a good one yesterday when Jim Thome got to bat as the potential tying run after the game should have been over on Delmon Young's line drive. Sure, Joe Mauer should have had a double on the Phil Cuzzi play in Game 2 last year. What everyone forgets, though, is that Mauer still ended up singling to start that inning. Two other singles followed. The Twins had the bases loaded and nobody out. They didn't score. No, the big difference has usually been one big hit or one big pitch. The Yankees have won that battle every time.

You'll notice we thought things would be different this year. We honestly thought that if the Twins could beat CC Sabathia and the Yankees in Game 1 -- and things were looking good with a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning -- they would sweep the Bronx Bombers. But we forgot that with the Yankees, you're always looking for flaws instead of remembering strengths. They're not what they were last year. They have holes. But they're still a really good team. The Twins are a really good team, too. But barring a huge comeback in New York, they're simply not good enough in October once again. Different Twins. Different ballpark. Same results.