By Tom Singer / MLB.com

Hoping to get hot in the October chill, the Yankees need a victory behind left-hander Andy Pettitte to square the series at a game each. Brad Radke is trying to pitch the Twins to a commanding 2-0 lead in games.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire stuck with the lineup responsible for Tuesday's 3-1 victory. Yankees counterpart Joe Torre also stuck with the same cast but considerably shook up his batting order.

The only ones retaining their slots are leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano, Jorge Posada (No. 5) and Juan Rivera (No. 9). Derek Jeter moved up to No. 2, with Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams at Nos. 3 and 4. Nick Johnson, now in an 0-for-21 slump, dropped from No. 2 into the eight hole.

The shuffle is no reflection of the Yanks' confidence of tying up this series. New York, in fact, has come back to win each of the previous three times it has dropped an ALDS opener: in 1996 to the Rangers, and in 2000 and 2001 to the A's.

Historically, teams have recovered from a Division Series opening loss 11 times out of 32. But AL teams' bounce-back ability has been far better than that: nine out of 16.

Andy Pettitte   /   P
	Height: 6'5" Weight: 225 Bats/Throws: L/L More info: Player page Stats Splits Astros site

Tonight's game matches two of the AL's hottest stretch pitchers. Pettitte won eight of his last nine decisions to nail a 21-win season, while Radke went 4-0 in September with a 1.80 ERA.

Radke is also the only one in Minnesota's three-man ALDS rotation with any prior postseason starting experience. He posted a 1.96 ERA in three starts last October.

So he knew not to build up tonight's game too much internally.

Brad Radke   /   P
	Height: 6'2" Weight: 188 Bats/Throws: R/R More info: Player page Stats Splits Twins site

"I'm going to treat it like the big games I pitched in the second half of the season," Radke said. "Try not to get caught up in the atmosphere."

That atmosphere is courtesy of another sellout crowd of 56,000, and the usual pageantry of October baseball in The Bronx.

The latter includes the duo of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of American forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The two will walk to the mound before the game, with Franks throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Cheryl Howard, daughter of another Yankees Hall of Famer, Elston Howard, will follow by belting out the national anthem.

Then the Twins and Yankees take over, with some belts of a different sort.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.