New York at Minnesota

The Yankees begin their defense as World Series Champs by taking on the Twins in Minnesota to open up the ALDS. Minnesota hands the ball to Francisco Liriano. His 14-10 mark is backed by a 3.62 ERA. It has been a funny kind of year for Liriano, as he has run hot and cold. The Twins had winning streaks behind Liriano of 6, 5, 4 and 3 games, but also had losing streaks of 5, 4 and 3 games, so he has been very good or very bad with no in between. Unfortunately for the Twins, he is in one of those down cycles right now with the Twins losing each of his last three starts. During that span, he's posted an ERA of 8.10. The Yanks go with C. C. Sabathia who came to New York and delivered a championship last year. He was a 21-game winner this season. Sabathia gets notoriety for winning at home, but the Yanks are 8-3 in his last 11 road starts as well. He's posted a 3.34 road ERA this season so no fall off there. The Yankees have become playoff darlings once again with their 10-1 mark in their last 11 postseason games posted as a favorite. The Twins have always struggled vs. the Yankees. New York has taken 11 of the last 13 in the regular season, and nine of the last eleven in the playoffs. The Twins are just 1-12 the past two seasons in post All-Star play when facing good offenses (teams that average 5.3+ runs per game). Liriano in his career is just 2-11 overall vs. such teams. I like the Yankees to take game one.