Twins 3, Yankees 1: Odorizzi takes no-hit bid to 8th inning

When the Twins traded for Jake Odorizzi in the offseason, many were excited that the team had acquired a viable arm to solidify the rotation. But for most of the year thus far, Odorizzi has turned in mostly mediocre and sub-par performances. Tonight was an entirely different outcome, as the righty gave his best performance as a Twin, and most likely his career, by keeping the playoff bound New York Yankees hitless for 7 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Odorizzi has never had a complete game in his seven big league seasons. If fact he has never recorded an out in the 9th inning his whole MLB career. Those facts didn’t change tonight, but he pitched a phenomenal game, nearly throwing a no-hit shutout. All evening he kept the Yankees bats in check, until finally giving up a hit at the 120 pitch mark while starting to look visibly tired . A walk to Luke Voit, and an RBI double by Greg Bird finally ended his day in the 8th. He left to a standing ovation to a crown filled with many Yankees fans who also cheered as he exited the field.

On the day Odorizzi gave up 1 hit, while striking out 5 , and walking 3 batters. He even provided a web gem of his own, fielding a weak Didi Gregorius dribbler to the mound and beating him to first with the throw to keep the no-hitter intact. Logan Forsythe and Max Kepler also made some really nice defensive plays on the night, including a sharp line drive to RF which Kepler had to make a forward-diving catch on, but made the play even with a 26% catch probability rating by Statcast.

Meanwhile, Yankees starter Luis Severino also pitched one heck of a game, not allowing a run until the 6th inning when Ehire Adrianza brought in Max Kepler on an RBI double. The Twins added a couple more to the lead in the 7th off reliever David Robertson. A two out double from Jake Cave was followed by an RBI single from Willians Astudillo , who was brought in on another double by Max Kepler. Cave and Astudillo both showed great hustle on the bases, but I think Astudillo’s hair helped give him a little more oomph as he rounded the bases..

In all it was a great day for baseball, and a great series win for the Twins over the Yankees at home, who now fall to 1 game over the Oakland A’s in the Wild Card standings. The Twins will head next to Kansas City for a four-game series starting tomorrow at 7:15 PM.

Note: Mitch Garver was removed from the game in the 2nd after taking some foul balls off his mask at catcher for precautionary reasons. Initial tests determined the backstop didn’t suffer a concussion, but Garver may undergo more evaluations before he is cleared to return.

Studs:

• Jake Odorizzi
• Max Kepler
• Willians Astudillo (always a stud)
• Twins bullpen (Taylor Rogers, Trevor Hildenberger)
• Ehire Adrianza

Duds:

• No Duds Twins Win Series!!

Nearly No-Hitter Roll Call:

Comment of the Game:

Me ...in the 3rd inning

“If Odorizzi pitches a no-hitter I will give Joel COTG for every game ever for all eternity”

So close Joel........Soooo close