NEW YORK - Johan Santana got the outs he absolutely needed. The Minnesota Twins' dazzling defense did the rest.

Jacque Jones homered in his first start since the death of his father, Minnesota turned a record five double plays and the Twins beat the Yankees 2-0 Tuesday night to win their eighth straight opener in a postseason series.

"Tonight we proved what the team, the Minnesota Twins, are all about," Santana said.

Minnesota's Soul Patrol outfield twice denied the Yankees with jumping catches. Left fielder Shannon Stewart saved one run and possibly two on Ruben Sierra's shot in the second, and center fielder Torii Hunter pulled in an eighth-inning drive by Alex Rodriguez at the top of the wall.

Hunter also threw out Jorge Posada at the plate in the second to complete the second double play by the Twins, who set a record for twin killings in a nine-inning postseason game.

"That's our game," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Brad Radke tries to give the AL Central champions a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series tonight before the teams shift to the noisy Metrodome in Minneapolis.

New York, which lost the first game of all three postseason series it played last year, is in a familiar position: The Yankees have dropped the first-round opener in three of the last four seasons - winning the series each time, but losing to Anaheim two years ago after leading 1-0.

Santana, unbeaten since the All-Star break, allowed eight hits in seven innings, the most off him since May 23. Four of the Yankees' first six batters reached safely and 10 of the first 24, but Santana kept escaping, getting four double plays in the first five innings.

"He pitched his heart out," Gardenhire said. "He was unbelievable tonight."

Juan Rincon pitched the eighth, and Joe Nathan finished for the save with the Twins' only 1-2-3 inning.

New York, shut out for the second straight time in postseason play, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. That's a familiar tale for the Yankees, who went 7-for-50 with runners in scoring position during last year's World Series loss to Florida, including 0-for-7 against Josh Beckett in the Game 6 finale - also a 2-0 loss.

"We had many opportunities," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Santana probably didn't have his best stuff tonight, but when he needed to get a groundball, he got it."

Jones, just back from California after making funeral arrangements for his father, homered off Mike Mussina in the sixth. Jones took a red-eye flight to rejoin the team Tuesday and intends to go back to California for the funeral Thursday.

"A lot of guys on the team expected to see him do something special tonight," Gardenhire said. "I think that's supposed to happen, he's supposed to hit a home run."

Jones' opposite-field drive to left was his first postseason homer - he pumped his fist in the air when it cleared the wall just after he rounded first base, and as he crossed the plate he pointed skyward.

"I know he's excited," Jones said of his father, Hardy. "He's watching me like he always has, even when he was here with us."

The closest the AL East champs came to scoring was in the seventh - after another of the long "God Bless America" renditions that Gardenhire dislikes. Sierra hit a drive past the left-field foul pole - left-field umpire Jerry Crawford signaled a home run, but after a huddle by several umpires, the call was correctly reversed to foul, drawing boos from the sellout crowd of 55,749.

Mussina, the most dependable starter on the weakest Yankees' rotation in years, had been 20-2 against the Twins before losing in the playoffs last year and at the Metrodome on Aug. 18.

"We hit the ball hard at some people," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "That's the way it goes."

Notes:

Torre won't decide his Game 3 pitcher until Wednesday. Because New York isn't sure whether RHP Orlando Hernandez (tired arm) will be available, New York is carrying 11 pitchers and dropped Jason Giambi from the active roster. Hernandez played catch but didn't throw off a mound. ... Michael Cuddyer's seventh-inning single went just over the head of a ducking Mussina. ... Minnesota pitched its first postseason shutout since Jack Morris beat Atlanta 1-0 in 10 innings in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.