MLB : 2* YANKEES<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O
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Tonight those of you who haven’t gotten the pleasure will see this season’s AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana take the hill at the Stadium. He was 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA this season. The lefty had 1 less win than Curt Schilling but a much better ERA as well as 62 more K’s. <O></O>
Santana has won 12 straight decisions but in his last start he picked up a ND on this very field. The Twins ended the season with no pressure after clinching behind the Cardinals. They finished up on a 4-8 slide. <O></O>
Mike Mussina will have the added pressure of basically being the Yanks ace going into the post-season and the right-hander has responded down the stretch as NY has won his last 5 starts. They are 10-3 with the Moose at night and Mussina is 8-2 with a 3.94 ERA at home. He is also 9-3 with a 3.29 ERA against the Twins since ’97 which leads me to this:<O></O>
NY has a major psychological advantage over <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:STATE><ST1LACE>Minnesota</ST1LACE></ST1:STATE> due to the fact that they’ve won 20 of the last 23 in this series including 10 of the last 11 at home. <O></O>
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> </O>Tonight those of you who haven’t gotten the pleasure will see this season’s AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana take the hill at the Stadium. He was 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA this season. The lefty had 1 less win than Curt Schilling but a much better ERA as well as 62 more K’s. <O
></O>Santana has won 12 straight decisions but in his last start he picked up a ND on this very field. The Twins ended the season with no pressure after clinching behind the Cardinals. They finished up on a 4-8 slide. <O
></O>Mike Mussina will have the added pressure of basically being the Yanks ace going into the post-season and the right-hander has responded down the stretch as NY has won his last 5 starts. They are 10-3 with the Moose at night and Mussina is 8-2 with a 3.94 ERA at home. He is also 9-3 with a 3.29 ERA against the Twins since ’97 which leads me to this:<O
></O>NY has a major psychological advantage over <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:STATE><ST1
LACE>Minnesota</ST1LACE></ST1:STATE> due to the fact that they’ve won 20 of the last 23 in this series including 10 of the last 11 at home. <O></O>
