MINNEAPOLIS — Carl Pavano’s Hall of Shame plaque won’t include a line mentioning his work for the 2009 Twins.
With his team’s season on the line last night, Pavano showed guts — an MRI exam taken on him when he pitched for the Yankees displayed a hollow abdominal cavity — and a live fastball. His big misfortune was facing Andy Pettitte on a night the left-hander worked his own magic.
The 33-year-old righty allowed two earned runs on five hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts and took the loss in the Yankees’ 4-1 victory in Game 3 of the ALDS.
“[Pavano] pitched wonderful,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He gave us a great opportunity to win the ballgame.”
It’s perhaps a different game if Pavano had made a different pitch against Alex Rodriguez with one out in the seventh inning. Pavano went ahead 0-2 and then watched him work the count full before launching a homer to right-center.
Pavano rebounded to strike out Hideki Matsui before Jorge Posada homered, putting the Yankees ahead 2-1.
“I gave up two big home runs and put the momentum on their side late in the game,” Pavano said. “Everyone knows how strong their bullpen is. Maybe you erase one of those home runs and it’s a different ballgame.”
Pavano, who can become a free agent next month, may have sent a message that he can perform in a big spot — even if his four seasons in pinstripes sent the message he can’t be trusted to stay healthy.
Derek Jeter doubled with two outs in the sixth, but Pavano caught Johnny Damon looking at strike three to end that threat. And when Mark Teixeira grounded out to begin the seventh, it appeared as if Pavano might actually hand the ball to his bullpen with a 1-0 lead.
But Rodriguez battled to stay alive and homered before Posada’s homer put the Yankees ahead.
“We fell short to a team that has the best record in the major leagues,” Pavano said. “What do you do? We battled them all three games. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys on this team.”