Twins say good-bye to Yanks, and thank goodness!

July 10, 7:45 AMMinnesota Twins ExaminerBrian Pietrzak

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Yankees' Closer Mariano Rivera Reacts to a Save vs. Twins / AP Photo

The Minnesota Twins were swept at home on Thursday by the New York Yankees. The final score on Thursday was 6-4, and nobody is happier to see the Yankees leave town than the Twins. The series was a nightmare on many counts, the biggest one in the starting pitching department, where the Twins were victimized by short starts in all three games.

The Bronx Bombers took all seven games from the Twins this season: four in New York and three in Minneapolis. Of the seven games, five were decided by one run. The Yanks swept the season series for the first time since 2003. The loss on Thursday drops Ron Gardenhire's record to 16-46 since he took over as manager before the 2002 season.

Thankfully, the Twins are done with New York for the season. They are also done with Boston and Tampa Bay as well. This is good because the Twins are 6-19 against the AL East. Thankfully, they only have seven games remaining against the East, with three home games against Baltimore in late August and four in Toronto in early September.

If the Twins lost the AL Central Division in 2009, it will be partially due to the poor record against the AL East. However, the team is also a disappointing 15-11 against AL Central Division opponents. Obviously, many intra-division games remain, but the Twins need to begin making hay in the Central. In the Gardy era, the team has performed extremely well within the division, as demonstrated here:

Between 2002-2004, the AL Central was considered among the league's worst, and the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers hit the 100-loss mark a combined four times in that span. Still, the Twins were able to distance themselves from rivals by beating up in the division. The somewhat mediocre divisional mark in the title-winning campaign of 2006 sticks out a bit, and reflects the general competitiveness of the division that season.

The Twins have played 26 of the first 86 games of 2009 against AL Central opponents. This means they have 46 intra-division games remaining. Three of them are this weekend, as the red-hot Chicago White Sox invade the Metrodome. Time for the Twins to start making some hay. 

Probables for White Sox Series: Friday's game will feature John Danks (7-6, 3.76 ERA) vs. Nick Blackburn (7-4, 2.94 ERA); Saturday will pit Gavin Floyd (6-6, 4.33 ERA) against Glen Perkins (4-4, 4.38 ERA); Sunday will feature Mark Buehrle (9-2, 3.14 ERA) vs. Scott Baker (6-7, 5.31 ERA).