NEW YORK- 2003 GAME RECAPS

April 8th - New York Yankees 7, Minnesota Twins 3 - Attendance 33,109

The Yankees home opener had been postponed one day by a massive snowstorm, and although the snow had been cleared out by game time, the cold weather remained. Fortunately, the first few innings went by fairly quickly, with the Yankees scoring a run in the 2nd on a Jorge Posada double and Raul Mondesi single.

In the 4th, the Twins tied it on doubles by Jacque Jones and Torii Hunter, but the Yanks responded in their half of the 4th. After Hideki Matsui walked to lead off the inning, Posada struck out, but Robin Ventura then sent the first pitch he saw from Joe Mays deep to right field and the Yankees had a 3-1 lead.

But it was the 5th inning that was to be the memorable one for New York. With one out, Nick Johnson and Jason Giambi singled. On Giambi's hit, Johnson tried for 3rd and made it easily, with Giambi taking second on the throw. Bernie Williams came up and was intentionally walked to load the bases, which brought Matsui to the plate. He worked the count full and the crowd was in a frenzy. Mays delivered and Matsui swung and made history! A mammoth shot to the right field bleachers cleared the bases and gave the Yankees a commanding 7-1 lead. Matsui was the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium and the fans cheered him on to a curtain call. It was truly a fantastic moment and it ended the Twins chances.

Minnesota did manage 2 runs in the 6th off Yankee starter Andy Pettitte, chasing him from the game, but Antonio Osuna came in to pitch 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball and Jason Anderson closed it out as New York won 7-3 in a game that will be remembered for Matsui's grand slam and not much else.

April 9th - New York Yankees 2, Minnesota Twins 1 - Attendance 31,898

Mike Mussina started for the Yankees against Kyle Lohse of the Twins. In the 2nd inning, Bobby Kielty singled with one out and Raul Mondesi bobbled the ball, allowing Kielty to get to second. After he advanced to third on a groundout, A.J. Pierzynski knocked him home with a single and the Twins led 1-0.

Lohse was perfect through 3 but gave up an infield single to Alfonso Soriano to lead off the 4th, although he retired the next 3 batters in order to preserve the 1-run lead.

But again, the 5th inning would prove the critical one for the Yankees. After Matsui grounded out to lead off the inning, Posada delivered a 3-1 pitch into the seats to tie the game. Robin Ventura promptly struck out, but Mondesi then atoned for his error by driving a ball deep to left field. It was sinking fast, but just made it over the fence and the Yankees had a 2-1 lead. And with Mussina pitching the way he was (8 innings, 6 hits, 8 strikeouts), the Twins would not be able to come back. Juan Acevedo pitched the 9th, giving up a single but retiring Dustin Mohr on a line drive to short that Erick Almonte speared with a great jump, ending the game with a fantastic play. This was a quick game, finishing in under 2:30, which was good since the weather was again near freezing. 

April 10th - New York Yankees 2, Minnesota Twins 0 - Attendance 29,255

An afternoon game ended the series against the Twins, and once again the Yankees pitching was superb. David Wells started and had a no-hitter after 3, his only blemish being a hit batsmen. Rick Reed was not as sharp, but managed to strand 4 Yankees after 2 innings. But in the 3rd, Jason Giambi walked and Bernie Williams singled him to third, Williams advancing on an error by Torii Hunter, who let the ball scoot through his legs. This brought up Hideki Matsui who went with a pitch, doubling down the line and giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. 

As it turned out, that was more than enough as Wells simply dominated the Twins batters, giving up only 3 hits as he completed the game, a rarity these days in baseball. The fans cheered him on in the 9th as he struck out Corey Koskie to finish the game, and the Yankees moved up to 8-1 with the win.

Matsui takes a pitch, he is on first below as John Flaherty swings