2009 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Yankees (3) Joe Girardi 103–59, .636, GA: 8 Minnesota Twins (0) Ron Gardenhire 87–76, .534, GA: 1
Dates	October 7–11, 2009
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Chip Caray,Ron Darling andCraig Sager
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Miller,Steve Phillips
Umpires	Tim Tschida Chuck Meriwether Mark Wegner Paul Emmel Jim Joyce Phil Cuzzi
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (3) Mike Scioscia 97–65, .599, GA: 10 Boston Red Sox (0) Terry Francona 95–67, .586, GB: 8
Dates	October 8–11
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Jacob Durdle,Tony Gywnn
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman,Dave Campbell
Umpires	Joe West C.B. Bucknor Eric Cooper Greg Gibson Brian Gorman Dan Iassogna
← 2008 ALDS 2010 →

The2009American League Division Series (ALDS) consisted of two concurrentbest-of-five game series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2009 postseason that determined the participating teams in the2009 American League Championship Series. Three divisional winners and a "wild card" team played in the two series. The ALDS began on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, and ended on Sunday, October 11, 2009. The matchups were:

• (1)New York Yankees (East division champions, 103–59) vs. (3)Minnesota Twins (Central division champions, 87–76): Yankees win series, 3–0.
• (2)Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (West division champions, 97–65) vs. (4)Boston Red Sox (Wild Card qualifier, 95–67): Angels win series, 3–0.

The Twins andDetroit Tigers finished the 162-game schedule in a first-place tie atop the American League Central and played aone-game playoff at theMetrodome on Tuesday, October 6, 2009, that was won by the Twins, 6–5, in 12 innings, giving them the division championship and a postseason berth.

The Yankees, by virtue of finishing with the best record in the American League, were given the choice of playing an eight-day series (with three off-days) or a seven-day series (with two off-days) and opted for the former.

This is the third consecutive season—and the fourth since 2004—that the Angels and Red Sox have met in the ALDS. The Red Sox swept the Angels in2004 and2007, and defeated the Angels 3–1 in2008. The Twins and Yankees last met in the postseason in the2004 ALDS, which the Yankees won 3–1.

The Angels and Yankees each swept their respective series in three games. Since the advent of division series play in 1995, this was the first time that the winners of both divisional series swept their opponents (Royals and Orioles swept both of their ALDS series in 2014, defeating the Angels and Tigers respectively). The Yankees went on to defeat the Angels 4–2 in the ALCS, and defeated thePhiladelphia Phillies 4–2 to win the2009 World Series.

Game 3 of the Twins–Yankees series was the final Major League Baseball game at the Metrodome, as the Twins moved into their new home stadium,Target Field, starting with the 2010 season.

TBS carried the tie breaker game and also televised all Division Series games in the United States.

New York won the series, 3–0.

Los Angeles won the series, 3–0.

In the first postseason game at the newYankee Stadium, the Yankees rebounded from an early 2–0 deficit to take the first game of the series, 7–2, behind a strong outing fromCC Sabathia and timely hitting byDerek Jeter,Nick Swisher,Alex Rodriguez, andHideki Matsui. The Twins opened the scoring in the third by stringing together three consecutive two-out hits, including anRBI single byMichael Cuddyer. One batter later, a passed ball byJorge Posada enabledJoe Mauer to score from third, giving the Twins a 2–0 lead. The Yankees answered in the bottom of the inning when Jeter smashed a two-run home run into the left field seats, and in the fourth, a two-out RBI double off the bat of Swisher put the Yankees in front for the first time of the night. One inning later, Rodriguez broke an 0-for-29 postseason skid with runners on base (dating back to the2004 ALCS) by lining a two-out single to left center, scoring Jeter from second and knocking Twins starterBrian Duensing out of the game. Matsui then belted a two-run home run intoMonument Park off relieverFrancisco Liriano, making it 6–2 Yankees. Rodriguez added another RBI single in the seventh off ofJohn Rauch with the run charged to Liriano to complete the scoring. Sabathia settled down after the third inning, striking out eight and limiting the Twins to two runs (one earned) and eight hits in6+2⁄3 innings of work. The Yankees bullpen then combined for2+1⁄3 innings of scoreless relief.

Late-game heroics fromAlex Rodriguez andMark Teixeira powered the Yankees past the Twins in Game 2 for a commanding two-games-to-none series lead. The Twins'Nick Blackburn and Yankees'A. J. Burnett pitched five shutout innings each beforeDelmon Young walked with one out in the top of the sixth, stole second and scored onBrendan Harris's triple, but the Yankees tied the score in the bottom of the inning on Rodriguez's RBI single off of Blackburn. In the eighth,Phil Hughes allowed a two-out walk toCarlos Gomez, who moved to third on Harris's single and scored onNick Punto's single.Mariano Rivera relieved Hughes and allowed an RBI single toDenard Span. With the Yankees trailing 3–1 in the bottom of the ninth, Teixeira led off with a single off Twins closerJoe Nathan, and Rodriguez followed with a dramatic game-tying two-run home run into the Yankee bullpen in right center.^[7] The Yankees threatened to win the game in the tenth, putting runners on first and third with one out, butJohnny Damon lined out to shortstopOrlando Cabrera andBrett Gardner was doubled off third to end the inning. In the top of the 11th the Twins mounted a threat of their own, beginning with aJoe Mauer base hit later in an at-bat in which he had already been denied a ground-rule double on a blown call by left field umpirePhil Cuzzi, who erroneously called Mauer's drive down the left field line foul. Replays showed the ball landed inside the foul line in fair territory. Two subsequent Twins hits moved baserunners up a single base and loaded the bases with nobody out, meaning that Cuzzi's officiating error possibly cost the Twins a run.^[8][9][10] Yankees relieverDavid Robertson was able to work out of the jam, bringing the total number of runnersleft on base by the Twins to 17.^[11] That set the stage for Teixeira, who opened the bottom of the frame by liningJosé Mijares' 2–1 pitch down the line and just over the left field wall for awalk-off home run.^[7]

Teixeira's home run was the first of his postseason career and the first postseason walk-off home run by a Yankee sinceAaron Boone's series-winner inGame 7 of the 2003 ALCS.^[11]

StartersCarl Pavano andAndy Pettitte matched zeroes until the bottom of the sixth, whenJoe Mauer singled off Pettitte with two on to put the Twins ahead 1–0.^[12] The Yankees seized the lead half an inning later on a pair of opposite field solo home runs byAlex Rodriguez andJorge Posada. In the eighth,Nick Punto led off with a double off New York'sPhil Hughes andDenard Span followed with an infield single, but Punto made a wide turn around third and was thrown out trying to get back to the bag, effectively ending the threat.^[12] In the top of the ninth,Ron Mahay,Jon Rauch andJose Mijares walked three straight batters with one out before consecutive RBI singles byJorge Posada andRobinson Cano off ofJoe Nathan padded the Yankees' lead to 4–1.Mariano Rivera recorded the final four outs, earning the save and sending the Yankees on to theAmerican League Championship Series in the Twins' final game at theMetrodome.^[12]

2009 ALDS(3–0):New York Yankees overMinnesota Twins

Game 1 started off as a pitchers' duel between Los Angeles'John Lackey and Boston'sJon Lester. Each starter gave up fourhits; however, one of the hits given up by Lester was a three-runhome run byTorii Hunter in the fifth inning that proved to be all the run support Lackey needed. In the seventh,Ramon Ramirez loaded the bases for the Angels on a walk, hit-by-pitch and single with no outs.Takashi Saito in relief allowed a two-outKendry MoralesRBI single that scoredVladimir Guerrero andJuan Rivera. Lackey pitched7+1⁄3 shutout innings whileDarren Oliver pitched1+2⁄3 shutout innings. This was the first time the Red Sox had been shut out in postseason play since Game 2 of the1995 ALDS, and the first ever shutout by Angels pitching in the postseason.

The Red Sox scored their first run of the series whenJacoby Ellsbury tripled to lead off the fourth and scored onVictor Martinez's single. However, they did not score again while the Angels tied the game in the bottom half onKendrys Morales's sacrifice fly with two on. The Angels broke the tie with three runs in the seventh to handJosh Beckett his first loss in nine postseason starts sinceGame 3 of the 2003 World Series.^[13]Vladimir Guerrero drew a leadoff walk and pinch runnerHowie Kendrick stole second, thenMaicer Izturis broke the deadlock with anRBI single and, afterMike Napoli was hit by a pitch,Erick Aybar's two-run triple over center fielderJacoby Ellsbury's head chased Beckett from the game two batters later. Angels starterJered Weaver continued in the footsteps of Game 1 starterJohn Lackey with a masterful performance, striking out seven while limiting the Red Sox offense to one run on two hits and two walks in7+1⁄3 innings.^[13] Three Angels relievers,Darren Oliver,Kevin Jepsen, andBrian Fuentes finished the game, with Fuentes earning the save.

The Angels stunned the Red Sox and the Fenway crowd with two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth, overcoming late-inning deficits of 5–2 and 6–4^[14] to sweep the series and advance to theAmerican League Championship Series.

Scott Kazmir started for Los Angeles and was largely ineffective, surrendering five runs on five hits and three walks in six innings. The Red Sox struck first in the third when a one-out walk and subsequent single was followed by a two-run double byDustin Pedroia, who scored onVictor Martinez's single to put them up 3–0. After the Angels got on the board in the fifth onKendrys Morales's home run,J. D. Drew hit a two-run home run in the bottom half that gave Boston what seemed like a comfortable 5–1 lead. The Angels chipped away against Boston starterClay Buchholz in the sixth, putting runners on first and third with none out beforeKendrys Morales grounded into a run-scoring 5–4–3double play.^[14]

Red Sox relieverBilly Wagner worked into a second-and-third, two-out jam in the eighth, prompting managerTerry Francona to summonJonathan Papelbon from the bullpen for a four-out save.^[14]Juan Rivera greeted Papelbon by lining his first pitch to right center for a two-run single, momentarily making it a 5–4 game, but Boston added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning off ofKevin Jepsen whenDavid Ortiz singled with two outs and was replaced by pinch runnerJoey Gathright, who stole second and scored onMike Lowell's single. Papelbon retired the first two batters in the top of the ninth, butErick Aybar kept the inning alive with a two-strike single.^[14] AfterChone Figgins worked a walk,Bobby Abreu, also down to his final strike, doubled off theGreen Monster to score Aybar from second.^[14]Torii Hunter then received anintentional walk, loading the bases forVladimir Guerrero. Guerrero ripped Papelbon's first pitch for a two-run single to center, putting the Angels ahead 7–6.^[14] CloserBrian Fuentes retired the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the inning for the save.

As of 2025, this remains to date the Angels last postseason series win.

2009 ALDS(3–0):Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim overBoston Red Sox

• NYY vs. MIN at Baseball-Reference
• LAA vs. BOS at Baseball-Reference
• LAA vs. BOS at ESPN
• NYY vs. MIN at ESPN

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