Dramatic Comeback In The Bronx As Yanks Rally Past Twins

The Yankees entered the bottom of the 9th with a tall order. Trailing 4-2, they had to face Joe Nathan, one of the toughest closers in the game. Just 3 outs separated them from a loss in the opener of a 4 game series with the Twins...

But on this night in the Bronx they showed the kind of grit they've been faulted for lacking. They refused to go down without a fight...

Here's how the inning unfolded:

Brett Gardner led off with a triple...then Mark Teixeira drove him home with a single...Alex Rodriguez walked...Hideki Matsui struck out...Nick Swisher followed with a ground out...

With an open base, Twins manager Rod Gardenhire elected to intentionally walk Robinson Cano and pitch to Melky Cabrera...

...a fateful decision...

On the very first pitch from Nathan, Melky delivered, lining a sngle to left--a 2-run walk-off single to win the game 5-4!

A dramatic comeback from behind victory against a tough Twins team--They don't get much better than this in the Bronx!

Additional Notes:

Brett Gardner hit an inside the park home run in the 7th inning--it was the first inside the park home run by a Yankee since 1999...

Phil Hughes, while not sharp, pitched better than in his last start, allowing 3 runs and 4 walks in 5 innings of work...

Tomorrow Joba Chamberlain takes the hill...

Let's Go Yanks!!!!

ESPN.com has Friday night's box score and video highlights: