MLB: Teixeira homers in 11th inning, Yankees beat Twins

NEW YORK — Mark Teixeira got chills as Yankee Stadium roared and his teammates celebrated around him.

Talk about a nice time for your first postseason homer.

Teixeira hit a leadoff drive in the 11th inning to give New York a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night and a 2-0 lead in their AL playoff series.

Teixeira's drive off Jose Mijares hit the top of the left-field wall and skipped over as the rollicking sellout crowd went wildly. Teixeira tossed aside his batting helmet as he approached home before being mobbed by his teammates.

"I don't think there's anything better in sports," he said. "Best place to play in the world."

Alex Rodriguez hit a tying, two-run homer off Joe Nathan in the ninth after a leadoff single by Teixeira. Rodriguez also had a two-out RBI single for the Yankees, who are off to their first 2-0 postseason start since 1999 against Texas.

Minnesota was hurt by a blown call by left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi in the top of the 11th. Joe Mauer started the inning with a drive down the line that appeared to go off Melky Cabrera's glove before clearly landing about a foot inside the line and bouncing into the stands.

Cuzzi said it was foul — it's been a tough week for umpires, with several missed calls — and Mauer ended up with a single when he should have had a ground-rule double.

"You can't see at all from the dugout, but I think we all know the ball was fair by a long ways," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Minnesota went on to load the bases with no outs but failed to score when David Robertson retired three straight batters. Delmon Young lined out to Teixeira at first, Mauer was cut down at home on Carlos Gomez's grounder and Brendan Harris flied out.

Those were the last of the 17 runners the Twins stranded. They've left 26 on base in the series, and also gave away a run when Gomez committed a baserunning blunder in the fourth.

Teixeira then hit New York's first game-ending shot since Aaron Boone's drive against the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

Andy Pettitte will try to close out the series when he faces former Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano in Game 3 on Sunday at the Metrodome.

The Yankees improved to 9-0 against the Twins this season. Minnesota has led in all six games at the Bronx, but has failed to win any of them.

Instead, the Twins saw the Yankees' 16th walkoff win of the season, most in the majors.