NEW YORK _ The sins of the Minnesota Twins in past Bronx playoff series meant nothing to the 2019 Yankees.
"Well, I'm hoping it means something," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the AL Division Series opener at Yankee Stadium. "But honestly ... I don't think it factors much in here."
And yet ...
_ An early Twins' lead was lost because of an inning-ending double play that wasn't turned.
_ A questionable Yankees pitching decision failed to fully backfire in the Twins' favor.
_ A reliable Minnesota bullpen had a meltdown moment, helping the Yanks to two more pivotal runs _ and then some.
From there, the Yankees started matching the Twins' power, allowing Boone's club to finish a 10-4 victory in Friday night's Game 1 in a best-of-five series.
That's now 11 straight postseason wins by the Yankees over the Twins, who will also be reminded of their 2-16 record at Yankee Stadium _ including the 2017 AL wild card and Friday's game _ since Opening Day of 2015.
"Man, I feel like some of the ghosts from Yankees past are here with us when ever that Stadium gets rocking," Aaron Judge said leading up to the battle between the AL's Central and East division champs.
And those ghosts keep haunting the Twins.
Last year, in postseason, Boone openly regretted staying with CC Sabathia too long in ALDS Game 4 against the Boston Red Sox.
It was Boone's rookie year as manager and his first postseason series, and the Yankees were bounced by the eventual world champions.
This time, Boone vowed to be more aggressive with his bullpen use.
But lefty starter James Paxton was allowed to pitch to one more batter _ Jorge Polanco _ in Friday's fifth inning, and it didn't work in the Yanks' favor.
After belting one of two solo homers off Paxton in the game (Nelson Cruz hit the other), Polanco lined a two-out, full-count RBI single to make it 3-3 in the fifth.
At that point, Boone moved into a fully aggressive mode.
Adam Ottavino entered and exited after one batter, walking Cruz after he'd been behind 0-and-2 in the count.
In came Tommy Kahnle, who quickly ended the inning by retiring Eddie Rosario.
Gleyber Torres' two-run double put the Yankees up 5-3 in the fifth, but Kahnle yielded a solo homer to Miguel Sano in the sixth.
It was the third homer by the Twins on Friday, after they'd edged the Yankees _ 307-306 _ in the regular season to establish a new MLB single-season team record.
In the sixth inning, the Yankees returned fire.
Solo home runs by D.J. LeMahieu and Brett Gardner off Cody Stashak pushed the Yankees lead to 7-4, and further lit up a pennant-starved crowd of 49,233.
In the seventh, LeMahieu's three-run double completely broke it open, permitting the Yankees to sail to the final six outs.
LeMahieu wasn't even in the Yankees Opening Day lineup and he might now finish third in the AL MVP balloting.
Gardner was thought to be a fourth outfielder, until injuries piled up. And at age 36, Gardner put together one of his finest seasons, with a career-high 28 homers.
Before that power show, Edwin Encarnacion lashed doubles in his first two at-bats, including an RBI double in the third off Twins starter Jose Berrios.
These were Encarnacion's first at-bats in a game since Sept. 13, when he suffered a strained left oblique.
After LeMahieu drifted and dropped a second-inning pop up, Paxton induced a grounder and third baseman Gio Urshela picked up LeMahieu by starting an inning-ending double play.
The Twins' failure to turn two cost them in the third, when first baseman C.J. Cron couldn't handle the relay on what would have been an inning-ending double play on Torres.
Instead, two runs scored to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead.
"You can't be held back by a mistake ... the next play is too damn important," Boone said he'd told his club as part of a pre-series message.
"Everything matters," Boone told his group. "And the next play is the most important."
