The Twins snapped an eight-game losing streak to the New York Yankees on Tuesday by giving the Bronx Bombers a taste of their own medicine. Instead of the Yanks piling on, the Twins scored 10 runs on 13 hits, including a six-run fifth inning that was punctuated by a Joe Mauer grand slam. How sweet it is. The final score was 10-5.
Every Twin had a hit except for second baseman, Logan Forsythe, who still scored a run and drew a base on balls. Mauer, Jake Cave and Max Kepler had two hits apiece, while Jorge Polanco had three hits, including a double. Designated hitter Tyler Austin, who came to the Twins from the Yanks in the Lance Lynn deal, had a hit and walk against his former team, and stat geek favorite, Willians Astudillo, hit an RBI single.
On the mound, the Twins went with another “opener.” Reliever Tyler Duffey got the start, followed by primary pitcher, Kohl Stewart. Stewart pitched five scoreless innings in his previous appearance in the “opener” format, and he won his first game on Tuesday. But it wasn’t pretty. Stewart picked up the win after allowing three runs in three-plus innings with five walks and no strikeouts.
Still, the Yanks are a scary club. The Twins were leading 10-1 until shortstop Didi Gregorius went off, hitting a triple, home run and driving in four runs.
The Twins go for the series win on Wednesday. Jake Odorizzi gets the ball.
Extra innings…
-It’s good to get a win, but the Twins have a long way to go before they even their head-to-head series with the Yanks. The Twins are 5-14 against the Yankees since 2016, 32-83 since 2002 and 765-1121 all time, which includes the Washington Senators.
-Meanwhile, the New York Post freaked out after the Yankees lost:
After Sonny Gray, Jonathan Loaisiga and Tommy Kahnle flushed slim chances of being included on the wild-card roster Tuesday night when the terrible Twins put a 10-5 beating on the visitors in front of 20,343 at Target Field, the fading Yankees are in danger of having to travel to the Bay Area to play the most important game of the season.