He thinks managers, like NFL coaches, should be able to challenge an umpire's call. Baseball's replay system is used only for home run calls.

The Twins lost what would have been a ground-rule double by Joe Mauer in the 11th inning of Game 2 in New York on Friday when umpire Phil Cuzzi ruled the ball foul.

Crew chief Tim Tschida said Cuzzi "felt horrible" about making the wrong call but there was nothing that could be done about it.

Gardenhire thinks that should change.

"I didn't see the play, so I would have had to have coaches up in the booth calling into my ear on my headset," Gardenhire said. "Give me a headset and give me a red flag and we can fix this stuff, but I would have to have somebody calling me saying, 'Throw your flag; let's question this call.' "

Joe Girardi said a challenge system would upset the game's rhythm.

"It breaks the rhythm," the Yankees manager said. "During the course of a season, everything usually balances out. In the playoffs, it is different. How many red flags would you be allowed to throw? Rhythm is important to pitchers, and it would hurt that."

Umpires had a tough week.

In the playoff game to determine the AL Central champion at the Metrodome on Tuesday, umpire Randy Marsh missed a ball that appeared to brush the uniform of Detroit Tigers batter Brandon Inge, costing Detroit a run. Umpire CB Bucknor missed two calls at first base in Thursday's Boston Red Sox-Los Angeles Angels game in Anaheim, Calif.

Gardenhire brought up his red-flag idea in July after a game in Oakland in which the Twins' Michael Cuddyer was called out at the plate. Replays appeared to show he was safe.

"I've said all along that I want a red flag," Gardenhire said in the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune after the Cuddyer play. "If you use it and you're wrong, you don't get to use it the rest of the game. If you use it and you're right, you get your red flag back."

Gardenhire knows the Twins had a chance to win Friday despite Cuzzi's blown call. Closer Joe Nathan couldn't hold a 3-1 in the ninth inning, and the Twins had the bases loaded in the 11th with no outs and couldn't score.

Gardenhire said the "great thing about baseball is the human element, and we always want to keep it that way."

He said that mistakes will be made: "You're going to have a few. We made enough mistakes ourselves, and we missed opportunities to win the game. It stung."

The Twins won their last regular-season game, vs. the Kansas City Royals, to force the one-game playoff vs. Detroit. The missed call on Inge helped them get to the postseason. An umpire's call could be part of the reason the Twins went into Sunday's Game 3 needing a win to stay alive. "You have to go out and get it done on the field," Gardenhire said. "The game is all about getting the big hits."

Had the Twins done that in Game 2, there would have been no red-flag discussions.

Enlarge By Kathy Willens, AP Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire speaks at a press conference before Game 2 of the ALDS against New York.