For reeling Twins, Yankees' visit is well-timed

Ed Zurga, Associated Press

Kansas City Royals' Mark Teahen (24) slides safely into home past Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, left, as he scores on Royals' Tony Pena's single to win the game in the 12th inning of a baseball game Sunday.

Kicking away the series finale didn't help Minnesota's mindset, but it's coming home to face a New York team with issues of its own.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: August 11, 2008 - 6:37 AM

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KANSAS CITY 5, TWINS 4 (12 INNINGS)

Up next: Three-game series vs. New York at the Metrodome • Game 1 at 7:10 tonight • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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KANSAS CITY, MO. - It's taking more and more brain power to remember the last time the Yankees won a World Series, but it's even harder to remember the last time they missed the playoffs altogether.

It might not be hard for long, because the Yankees are in town for a three-game series against the Twins in danger of being October spectators for the first time since 1993.

They were swept in three games by the Angels over the weekend, they need an emergency starter for Wednesday and Alex Rodriguez is batting .234 with runners in scoring position. It's not always who you play but when you play them, and the Bronx Bombers appear to be ready to be had.

And the Twins -- who lost to the Royals 5-4 in 12 innings on Sunday -- are eager to atone for the three-game meltdown they suffered at Yankee Stadium last month.

"They beat us up pretty good the last time we played them,'' Twins first baseman Justin Morneau said. "We need to return the favor. That's for sure.''

The problem is that the Twins are coming off of a 3-3 road trip to Seattle and Kansas City, two teams they should handle.

They could have gone 6-0 on the trip if they had eliminated a couple of mistakes. Poor execution also made a couple of victories on the trip much more difficult than they should have been.

The Twins ended their road trip with one of their worst games of the season, during which Kansas City starter Gil Meche walked seven batters but watched his team win.

Kansas City benefited from an eighth-inning throwing error by shortstop Adam Everett that allowed the tying run to score. The Twins had the leadoff batter reach base in the 10th and 11th innings but failed to score, and the Royals won the game on Tony Pena Jr.'s RBI single, a liner that nearly knocked reliever Craig Breslow out to center field.

There were numerous defensive miscues in the game -- uncharacteristic of the Twins. Morneau wanted to pull out George Carlin's dictionary to look up words to describe how they played on Sunday -- and over the weekend -- but decided against it.

"We're lucky we came out of here with two out of three [wins], the way we played," he said.

While the Twins aren't very proud of their play last week, the Yankees have their own problems. They are in the thick of the playoff race with the rival Red Sox -- for the AL wild card. With Tampa Bay showing no signs of faltering -- the Rays lead the third-place Yanks by 8 1/2 games -- it looks as if New York will have to win the wild card to make the postseason.

Sunday's loss dropped the Twins back into second in the AL Central behind the White Sox while they sit 1 1/2 games behind the Red Sox and 2 1/2 games in front of the Yankees in the wild-card battle.

So there's a lot at stake this week at the Dome for two teams not satisfied with their play of late. The Twins are just happy the series is not in New York, where they were outscored 25-7 in three games last month and are 3-19 since 2001.

"I like the fact we are playing them at home," Twins righthander Scott Baker said. "We probably would like to be playing a little better. We are tough at home, and we know that. I think that in itself is going to give us confidence and allow things to work themselves out, and I think we will play well."