Minnesota set out to give Johan Santana an early lead, stringing together a couple of singles and a sac fly to score a run in the first inning. Unfortunately for the Twins, the inning ended with a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play in which the umpire made a mistake in calling Jacque Jones out at second. Jorge Posada made a quick throw down to second after the strike out, but replays indicated that Derek Jeter's tag missed Jones by a significant amount.

Jeter led off the third with a ground ball single into centerfield and advanced to second when Gary Sheffield grounded out. Hideki Matsui then hit a ground ball into right field for a single, allowing Jeter to score. Jones' throw came in just after Jeter crossed the plate. Henry Blanco was charged an error for failing to catch the throw, allowing Matsui to reach second. Minnesota was able to escape the inning without the error costing them another run.