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The Minnesota Twins fell to the New York Yankees 5-2 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, and while the final score was close enough to suggest a tight game, the details told a different story.
Minnesota managed just two runs on six hits and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, wasting chance after chance to climb back into a game that slipped away in the middle innings.
The loss dropped the Twins to 42-47 on the year while the Yankees, who came into Friday riding a seven-game losing streak, improved to 49-38.
Kody Clemens gave the Twins an early lead with a solo home run off Gerrit Cole in the top of the first, but that advantage lasted all of one half-inning before Trent Grisham answered with a solo shot of his own.
Ben Rice then broke the tie with a two-run homer in the third to put New York in front for good, and the Yankees tacked on two more in the seventh off reliever Eric Orze to push the lead to 5-2.
Victor Caratini's RBI single in the fourth was the only other run Minnesota could scratch across despite putting runners on base throughout the night.
"When you have a night like tonight, it's frustrating," Twins manager Derek Shelton said. "If it's something that continues or holds the course over time, you start to look at the approach, you start to look at the at-bats. There are just certain nights that guys execute pitches and tonight was one of those nights."
The toughest moment came in the eighth inning, when Fernando Cruz retired Royce Lewis with the bases loaded to end the threat and keep the deficit at three.
It was a spot where one swing could have flipped everything, but the Yankees' bullpen shut the door.
The hard part about a night like Friday is that it does not fit what this team has been doing over the past few weeks.
Minnesota won 10 of its previous 16 games heading into the series and took five of its last six series overall, playing some of the best baseball of any American League team during that stretch.
The Twins entered Friday with an MLB-best .288 batting average and .835 OPS with runners in scoring position, which helps explain why Shelton views this one as a bad night rather than a deeper problem.
Even sitting five games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central and three back of a wild card spot, there is still plenty of time for Minnesota to make a run.
The lineup has more than enough firepower to stay in the conversation, even with Byron Buxton missing his fourth straight game due to a right hip issue.
If the bats come alive again the way they have for most of the season, one rough night at Yankee Stadium will not matter much when September rolls around.
Continue reading...
Minnesota managed just two runs on six hits and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, wasting chance after chance to climb back into a game that slipped away in the middle innings.
The loss dropped the Twins to 42-47 on the year while the Yankees, who came into Friday riding a seven-game losing streak, improved to 49-38.
Shelton Does Not Hold Back
Kody Clemens gave the Twins an early lead with a solo home run off Gerrit Cole in the top of the first, but that advantage lasted all of one half-inning before Trent Grisham answered with a solo shot of his own.
Ben Rice then broke the tie with a two-run homer in the third to put New York in front for good, and the Yankees tacked on two more in the seventh off reliever Eric Orze to push the lead to 5-2.
Victor Caratini's RBI single in the fourth was the only other run Minnesota could scratch across despite putting runners on base throughout the night.
"When you have a night like tonight, it's frustrating," Twins manager Derek Shelton said. "If it's something that continues or holds the course over time, you start to look at the approach, you start to look at the at-bats. There are just certain nights that guys execute pitches and tonight was one of those nights."
The toughest moment came in the eighth inning, when Fernando Cruz retired Royce Lewis with the bases loaded to end the threat and keep the deficit at three.
It was a spot where one swing could have flipped everything, but the Yankees' bullpen shut the door.
Why the Twins Should Not Panic
The hard part about a night like Friday is that it does not fit what this team has been doing over the past few weeks.
Minnesota won 10 of its previous 16 games heading into the series and took five of its last six series overall, playing some of the best baseball of any American League team during that stretch.
The Twins entered Friday with an MLB-best .288 batting average and .835 OPS with runners in scoring position, which helps explain why Shelton views this one as a bad night rather than a deeper problem.
Even sitting five games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central and three back of a wild card spot, there is still plenty of time for Minnesota to make a run.
The lineup has more than enough firepower to stay in the conversation, even with Byron Buxton missing his fourth straight game due to a right hip issue.
If the bats come alive again the way they have for most of the season, one rough night at Yankee Stadium will not matter much when September rolls around.
Continue reading...
