Bats began moving early in Game 2 of the Minnesota/New York series. On base after hitting a ground ball single into right field, RF-L Jacque Jones scored when 1B-L Justin Morneau hit a line drive down the right field line. RF-R Gary Sheffield slipped while retrieving the ball from the corner and then made a high throw, so the play at the plate was not close. However, having no chance to make a tag on Jones, C-S Jorge Posada successfully threw to third, where Morneau was tagged for the third out of the inning. The Twins then lost the lead when SS-R Derek Jeter led off the bottom of the inning with a homer onto the upper right hand side of the batter's eye in centerfield.

In the second, Minnesota put together a walk, a couple of singles, and a sac fly to score two runs, giving them a 3-1 lead. With 3B-R Alex Rodriguez on base after singling down the third base line, Sheffield hit a home run down the left field line, tying the game in the bottom of the third. The Yankees took the lead in the fourth when ARod launched a home run just to the left of the area in front of Monument Park.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, New York sent RHP Tom Gordon to relieve RHP Jon Lieber. Gordon successfully stranded SS-S Cristian Guzman at second. RHP Brad Radke issued a walk to 2B-R Miguel Cairo to open the bottom of the inning. Jeter bunted Cairo over to second, and ARod dropped a ball into shallow left field for a single, scoring Cairo and prompting the Twins to replace Radke with RHP Grant Balfour.

Jones struck out swinging in the top of the eighth, but the ball bounced away from Posada, allowing Jones to safely reach first base. CF-R Torii Hunter advanced Jones to second with a fly ball single into centerfield, causing the Yankees to send for RHP Mariano Rivera. Sheffield was playing too deep to reach the fly ball dropped into right field by Morneau, so Jones scored and Hunter achieved third base on the single. 3B-L Corey Koskie then hit a fly ball that bounced over the left field wall for an automatic double, scoring Hunter and moving Morneau to third. However, Minnesota was not able to bring in another run and take the lead, so New York came to bat with the score tied at 5.

With RHP Juan Rincon and Rivera pitching for their respective teams, no batter reached base over the next inning and a half. Prior to the 10th, the Yankees brought in RHP Tanyon Sturtze to relieve Rivera, but while he issued a walk to 1B-R Matt LeCroy, the Twins could not score. RHP Joe Nathan took over from Rincon in the bottom of the inning and continued to keep New York off the bases for another half inning. Each side issued a walk in the 11th, but the score remained locked at 5 until Hunter hit a high fly ball over the fence for a solo home run in the top of the 12th. The Yankees allowed Sturtze to give up a single to LeCroy and a walk to Koskie before replacing him with RHP Paul Quantrill, who escaped the inning without allowing further damage.

Considering Nathan had not pitched more than two innings or thrown more than 33 pitches in an outing during the regular season, we expected to see someone warming in the Minnesota pen. He'd thrown 32 pitches. The temperature was in the 50's, and due to the Twins offensive push and subsequent New York pitching change in the top of the 12th, he had not thrown a pitch in almost 20 minutes. Letting him take the mound in the bottom of the inning was a questionable decision, not having anyone ready to take over the moment he displayed signs of fading was senseless.

While Nathan was obviously laboring, 1B-L John Olerud helped himself to a strikeout to lead off the bottom of the 12th. Nathan then obtained strike one on Cairo before throwing him four straight balls. At that point, Minnesota began warming up LHP J.C. Romero. A few pitches later, cameras showed that RHP Jesse Crain had replaced Romero on the bullpen mound. Jeter took a walk on four straight balls, but Nathan remained in the game to face ARod. The Twins were sparred an instant loss when Rodriguez's fly ball landed short of the fence in left center and bounced over the wall for an automatic double. If the ball had remained in play, Jeter almost certainly would have scored.

After calling for Nathan to intentionally walk Sheffield, Manager Ron Gardenhire walked out to the mound to remove his closer while signaling to the bullpen, where Romero was once again on the mound. Romero probably was a better choice than Crain. Crain did better against lefties this season, but Matsui does worse against left-handed pitching. Meanwhile, Romero has more experience and is much more of a ground ball pitcher, so he had a better chance of inducing a double play. The problem here was failing to get someone up sooner and not being decisive about who to get up. LF-L Hideki Matsui sent Romero's first pitch flying into right field, but despite catching the ball, Jones did not have a chance to make a play on Jeter as he crossed home plate to win the game for the Yankees. Gardenhire's decision making in this game rivals Grady Little's mistake last year and warrants similar consequences if the Twins fail to advance.