Captain October Turns Game In Yankees Favor

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Courtesy Yankees 'N More">Yankees 'N More

Any Yankees fan who tells you there weren't at least a little nervous, coming into tonight's postseason opener, is a liar.

How could he or she not be a little edgy after so many recent October failures?

Obviously, the New York Yankees are still relative miles away from achieving their goals, but beating the Minnesota Twins, 7-2, in the opener of this series on Wednesday was a nice step in the right direction.

One of the most important guys who allowed the Yankees to take that positive step was none other than The Captain, Derek Jeter, who had a huge game.

Jeter's brightest moment came in the bottom of the third inning, just moments after the Twins had taken a 2-0, and with it, the early momentum.

Already 1-for-1 with a first-pitch single in the first, Jeter stepped to the plate following a Melky Cabrera infield single and changed the game.

The second ball Jeter saw in his second at-bat was a hanging breaking ball that he yanked directly down the left-field line and out of the ballpark for a game-tying 2-run homer. With that drive, Jeter brought Yankee Stadium to life and yanked all the momentum back into the first-base dugout.

It was the first postseason home run in the new Yankee Stadium.

"You get a two-run lead quick, and as soon as you go back out, it's a 2-2 ballgame with a homer," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's a little deflating."

"We fell behind," Jeter said. "Any time you can get two (runs) that quick, yeah, that woke up the stadium a bit."

Jeter finished the night 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, 2 RBI's and 3 runs scored.

"The Captain got us going," Alex Rodriguez said, "and we followed his lead."

The blast was the 18th postseason homer for Derek Jeter, which ties him for third place on the all-time MLB list with two other Yankee greats - Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson.

In the interest of fairness, it should be pointed out that there was no ALDS or ALCS when Mantle played. All 18 of his homers came in the World Series, which still ranks as an all-time record.

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