NEW YORK (AP) – If not for Andy Pettitte and Derek Lowe, the AL championship series might have been a matchup between Oakland and Minnesota.

When New York was in danger of falling behind 2-0 to Minnesota in the first round, Pettitte shut down the Twins for seven innings, allowing time for the Yankees’ offense to wake up.

And when Boston’s ninth-inning lead was in jeopardy Monday night at Oakland, Lowe escaped a bases-loaded jam with a pair of called strikeouts.

The two will face each other in Game 2 Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s going to be a situation where you’re pitching on adrenaline more than anything,” Lowe said before Wednesday night’s opener.

Pettitte knows a lot about pitching in the postseason, going 11-7 in 26 starts. He’s tied for third with Greg Maddux in postseason wins, two behind John Smoltz and one behind Tom Glavine. Pettitte already is one ahead of Whitey Ford, long the Yankee standard for postseason success.

“The one I keep referring to all the time is Game 5 against Atlanta, beating them 1-0 in Atlanta in 1996,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “So I trusted Andy. And even through his tough times, you knew he was better than that. And when I send him out there, I trust him, and I don’t think I can pay anybody a higher compliment.”

Pettitte, eligible for free agency after the World Series, went 21-8 with a 4.02 ERA this year, including 3-1 with a 5.04 ERA in four starts against Boston. Overall, he’s 13-5 when facing the Red Sox during the regular season, and he beat them 9-2 in Game 4 of the 1999 AL championship series.

“There’s no doubt these games are intense,” Pettitte said. “It doesn’t go away – I mean, you know – I think the butterflies you get before a game, if that goes away, it’s probably time to hang it up.”

Lowe, a former reliever, made his first postseason start in Game 3 Saturday night and gave up an unearned run and six hits over seven innings.

He then came out of the bullpen Monday after Scott Williamson put the first two runners on in the ninth. He threw called third strikes past Adam Melhuse and Terrence Long, putting Boston in the ALCS for the first time since that 1999 series against New York.

“I think … it showed that you can get out of a big jam, which at some point in tomorrow night’s game you’re going to have to do – hopefully, not too many times,” Lowe said. “But you’ve proven to yourself and your teammates that you can get out of them.”

After going 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA last season, when he pitched a no-hitter against Tampa Bay, Lowe dropped to 17-7 with a 4.47 ERA this year, going 11-2 with a 3.21 ERA at Fenway Park and 6-5 with a 6.11 ERA on the road.

AP-ES-10-08-03 2000EDT