First, take your hat off to the Minnesota Twins. They won a challanging AL Cental race going away, besting Detroit by 3 games... Now wave goodbye. The already daunting task of toppling the Yankees was made more difficult with the loss of 3B Corey Koskie. Koskie was injured while running the bases in a loss to Kansas City, taking his 21 HR and team-leading 121 RBIs out of the lineup.
Starting pitching is likely to be the Twins' downfall. While Yankee starters Claussen, Halladay, and Mussina have been stellar, the Twin rotation has been mediocre most of the year.
Minnesota does possess a fine offense, though Koskie's absence will be felt. They will need several players to step up to fill the void. The Yankees are powered by big-name hitter throughout the lineup. Helton, Klesko, Griffey, Soriano and Stewart have all contributed solid seasons.
The Yankees are just too strong, with too much depth. They will take this one in 4, but could very well sweep Minnesota.
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