That's what I'm saying, guy…

This pretty much sums up the series for Minnesota

So, a 4-1 New York win tonight finishes off the Twins and sets up a Yankees-Angels ALCS, which gets underway later this week at Yankee Stadium. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how much you enjoy sick humour), coverage switches over to FOX, so we won’t be treated to Chip Caray using the term “fisted” to describe any contact made on a pitch on the inner half. Thanks for the laughs, Chip.

Back to the Yankees-Twins, though: How bad was Minnesota in this series? Is it possible they were still drunk from Tuesday night’s celebration, or are they just the most inept team in the history of baseball? Tonight Nick Punto held the torch, making a brutal baserunning error in the eighth to cost the Twins the potential game-tying run. Not that it really mattered, since four Minnesota pitchers — including Joe “Mr. October” Nathan — couldn’t escape the top of the ninth without coughing up another two runs.

To New York’s credit, they played clean, error-free baseball all series. Alex Rodriguez’s decision to set all the calendars in his house to April was enough to fool his smart self — he came through with another huge hit tonight, homering off Carl Pavano to tie the game at one in the seventh. Noted steroid user Andrew Pettitte was masterful as well, giving up three hits and one run in six-plus innings — a feat made all-the-more impressive considering it was his first career playoff start on artificial turf, as the always-alert Caray pointed out.

Anyway, make it three sweeps in four first round series, with Colorado and Philadelphia the only set to go past the minimum. Game 3 of that series is in progress, with the Rockies holding a 2-1 lead in the third.