The 2009 American League Division Series (ALDS) consisted of two concurrent best-of-five game series that determined the participating teams in the 2009 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 and Detroit Tigers finished the 162-game schedule in a first-place tie atop the American League Central and played a one-game playoff at the Metrodome 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 in 2004 and 2007, and defeated the Angels 3–1 in 2008. The Twins and Yankees last met in the postseason in the 2004 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 the Philadelphia Phillies 4–2 to win the 2009 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.
Matchups
New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Boston Red Sox
New York vs. Minnesota
Game 1
In the first postseason game at the new Yankee Stadium, the Yankees rebounded from an early 2–0 deficit to take the first game of the series, 7–2, behind a strong outing from CC Sabathia and timely hitting by Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Alex Rodriguez, and Hideki Matsui. The Twins opened the scoring in the third by stringing together three consecutive two-out hits, including an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer. One batter later, a passed ball by Jorge Posada enabled Joe 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 the 2004 ALCS) by lining a two-out single to left center, scoring Jeter from second and knocking Twins starter Brian Duensing out of the game. Matsui then belted a two-run home run into Monument Park off reliever Francisco Liriano, making it 6–2 Yankees. Rodriguez added another RBI single in the seventh off of John 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 in innings of work. The Yankees bullpen then combined for innings of scoreless relief.