by By John Shipley jshipley@pioneerpress.com , St. Paul Pioneer Press

Yet there he was Friday night at Yankee Stadium, tossing the ball in his right hand while waiting for manager Ron Gardenhire to make the long walk to the mound and give him the hook.

"It was the right thing to do at the right time," Nathan said Saturday morning, less than 12 hours after he blew a two-run, ninth-inning lead in the ninth in Game 2 of the American League Division Series. "Obviously I didn't have my best stuff out there."

The loss put the Twins in a precarious spot, down 2-0 in the five-game series that continues with Game 3 tonight at the Metrodome. Minnesota had a 3-1 lead when Nathan came on, but Mark Teixeira singled to open the inning and Alex Rodriguez followed with a homer to deep center on a 3-1 pitch.

Left-hander Jose Mijares came in and got out of the inning on a double-play liner, but the Twins lost in the 11th on Teixeira's solo homer.

"Tough game," Nathan said. "We had some opportunities, had some calls go against us, but we had a chance. We had a chance to even the series in the ninth, and it just didn't happen."

Nathan has been mostly lights out for the Twins since they acquired him from San Francisco before the 2004 season and made him the closer, but his performance Friday continues two disquieting trends for Nathan: He has struggled down the stretch this season and been generally unreliable in the playoffs.

In September and October this season, Nathan was 0-1 with a 3.38 earned-run average. In 16 innings, he gave up six earned runs on seven hits, including four homers. In his previous appearance, the tiebreaker game against Detroit last Tuesday, Nathan needed a remarkable double play to get out of trouble.

Is he tired?

"That's what everyone always says when guys struggle, that guys are tired," he said. "To tell you the truth, it's just a bunch of crap."

Since joining the Twins , Nathan's regular-season record is a remarkable 22-12 with 246 saves and a 1.87 ERA. But in four playoff appearances, including one with San Francisco in 2003, he is 0-2 with an 8.59 ERA. In seven postseason innings, Nathan has given up seven runs on 10 hits, including two homers.

Rodriguez's homer on Friday was tough to swallow. The Twins had broken a 1-1 tie late, and even scored a run on Yankees relief ace Mariano Rivera. Nathan fell behind the three-time American League MVP on three pitches well out of the strike zone.

With Rodriguez taking, Nathan threw a fastball over for strike one, but Rodriguez wasn't taking on the next pitch. He drilled a fastball over the plate over the Yankees' bullpen in right-center and into the seats.

"Rodriguez is a pretty good hitter. Everybody knows that," catcher Joe Mauer said. "That's probably not where (Nathan) wanted to spot that ball. If you make mistakes, hitters like that will make you pay."

Nathan said that game is behind him.

"That game's over. I've forgotten about it. I don't even know what we're talking about," he said.

Starting over at the Metrodome should help. He had a 1.63 ERA at home this season, and 2.70 on the road.

"Yesterday's game is no different than a blown save in the regular season," he said. "You've got to put it behind you and move on. You're not going to be able to help the club without moving on and putting stuff past you."

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