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Today’s lineups:
MIN: Max Kepler CF, Jorge Polanco SS, Ehire Adrianza 2B, Miguel Sano 1B, Josh Donaldson 3B, Eddie Rosario LF, Mitch Garver DH, Willians Astudillo C, Marwin Gonzalez RF, Jose Berrios P
NYY: Mike Tauchman CF, DJ LeMahieu 2B, Gleybar Torres SS, Mike Ford 1B, Luke Voit DH, Gary Sanchez C, Miguel Andujar 3B, Brett Gardner LF, Tyler Wade RF, Gerrit Cole P
As you can tell from the headline, Gerrit Cole had a bad day. That’s actually a bit disingenuous on my part though, as he left the game with an abdominal strain after facing only one batter. Max Kepler made the most of that at bat though, hitting a Yankee-Stadium special to right field for a one-run home run. That means Cole has an ERA of infinity against the Twins since he signed with the Yankees for all the money ever. I think Josh Donaldson was the better investment, don’t you?
After Cole left, the Yankees trotted out their entire bullpen, using a total of nine pitchers tonight. Five of them managed a scoreless outing, but Tommy Kahnle, normally one of their most reliable relievers, had a terrible night as well.
Prior to Kahnle, Deivi Garcia pitched 1.2 innings while only giving up one run. That one run was another solo bomba in the second. This one came off the cold-starting bat of Marwin Gonzalez, which was nice to see. Jorge Polanco also picked up a triple in the inning, which is cool simply for its rareness.
Jose Berrios let the Yankees score in the bottom of the second, in the most likely way a score would happen in a contest between these two teams—that’s right, another home run! Gary Sanchez hit it, and it was also a solo home run.
Tommy Kahnle successfully got the last two outs of the third. When he came back for the fourth, he had a bad time. He threw 29 pitches tonight. Of those, 22 came in the fourth inning, where he got no outs, and gave up five runs. The fun started with a walk to Marwin Gonzalez, who is apparently heating up. Gonzalez took second on a wild pitch, then scored on a single by Max Kepler. Jorge Polanco walked, and Ehire Adrianza hit a single, which loaded the bases and brought up Miguel Sano. You can probably guess what happens next. Yeah. Miguel Sano hit his second freaking GRAND SLAM in three games. This is the third consecutive game in this three game series that someone hit one, I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before.
Anyway, Sano chases Kahnle from the game, and things settle down. Berrios gives up only two runs in this game, and the second one came in the 6th. DJ LeMahieu took a walk, and scored from first on a double by Gleyber Torres.
Marwin Gonzalez continued his good day at the plate with a triple in the seventh. This game is so weird, now we have two triples in the same game.
The Twins added two more runs in the eighth, because beating up the Yankees is fun. I hope we stole their lunch money, too. Miguel Sano got on base with a two-out single. Josh Donaldson hit what should have been a routine grounder to short, but the error ended up putting runners on the corner. The very next pitch was wild, and Sano scored. Eddie Rosario then hit a single that drove Donaldson in.
The Yankees did Yankee things in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too-little, too-late. In other words, Zack Littell walked Brett Gardner, then Sergio Romo came on and gave up a home run to Tyler Wade that brought us the final score. Three quick outs after that and the game was over.
Notes
- Prior to the game, Lewis Thorpe was optioned to Triple-A Rochester, and left handed reliever Caleb Thielbar was promoted to Minnesota. Thielbar has a 2.97 ERA across 39.1 innings at Rochester this season. Welcome back, Meat Raffle!
- Willians Astudillo is now somehow 1-9 with his only hit being a home run. He’s also got one strikeout and no walks.
- As far as I can tell, there have never been Grand Slams hit in all three games of a series. Someone fact check this for me, please.
STUDS:
Miguel FREAKIN Sano: 3-5, GRAND SLAM, 4 RBI, runs scored
Max Kepler: 2-6, HR, 2 RBI
Marwin Gonzalez: 3-4, RBI, 2 runs scored, walk
DUDS:
No Duds, Twins win!
Tomorrow: A visit to Chicago, where the Twins face the White Sox at 7:10 pm (look for a recap around 11 pm)