NEW YORK — The Yankees’ dominance of the Twins has been a remarkable and largely unexplainable quirk, remaining constant throughout the sweeping roster changes of two decades. When these two clubs meet, no matter the setting or month, the pinstripes usually come out on top.
And it had that feeling again in the ninth inning on Thursday, despite an earlier call at first base that still had blood boiling in the home dugout. With the bases loaded and one out, the Yankees prepared to celebrate a walk-off win that never arrived, turned aside to swallow a 4-3 loss to Minnesota.
“The goal is to win the game, and unfortunately tonight we couldn’t do that,” said infielder/outfielder Miguel Andújar, who hit a two-run homer in the defeat.
Through Thursday, the Yankees have won 114 of 154 games against the Twins since the start of the 2002 season, including the playoffs. Minnesota had lost each of its last 10 games at Yankee Stadium, and 24 of 26 in the Bronx since the start of 2015. But this time, Charlie Brown got to kick the football through the uprights.
“We had our chances,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We came up a little bit short.”
With a crowd of 35,551 on its feet in the ninth, Oswald Peraza stroked a one-out single to chase Caleb Thielbar, and Aaron Hicks greeted Michael Fulmer with a ringing double to the right-field wall, placing the potential tying run 90 feet away .
Aaron Judge tossed his bat aside after receiving his fourth intentional walk in three games, the Twins electing to face Gleyber Torres instead. Fulmer struck out Torres and induced Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out — close but no cigar, the Yanks’ 23rd one-run loss of the season snapping their four-game win streak.
“There’s extra motivation when you play on such a big stage like Yankee Stadium,” said Minnesota’s Carlos Correa, who hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth. “There’s a little more adrenaline, a little more focus, a little more hunger to just win games. The fans here, they not only bring the best to their home players, they bring the best out of the away player.”
As the Yanks prepare for another big divisional showdown with the Rays this weekend, set to welcome Derek Jeter back to the Bronx for the first time since 2017, Boone was still fuming after the game about an eighth-inning turn of events that set up Correa’s blast.
With one out, left-hander Wandy Peralta induced pinch-hitter Jake Cave to hit a slow roller to the right side of the infield. First baseman Marwin Gonzalez scooped the ball and flipped it to Peralta, who stumbled but appeared to stamp his right foot on the base ahead of Cave’s arrival.
First-base umpire Alex Tosi ruled Cave safe, and the Yankees swiftly challenged. Upon review, the call stood; a frame-by-frame breakdown showed Peralta had juggled the ball, and replay officials determined that there was not conclusive evidence to show he had regained control in time to retire Cave.
“What do you think?” Boone asked a questioner. “I think he’s out. We’ve got to live with the [call] stands. That’s just how our system goes.”
The call drew jeers from the crowd, and there would be more unhappy customers two batters later as Correa took rookie reliever Greg Weissert deep.
The Yanks seemed set up in the eighth, when a wild pitch sent Judge home to make it a one-run game. Giancarlo Stanton made his first appearance in days to pinch-hit for Estevan Florial, whiffing in a nine-pitch at-bat. Stanton is 4-for-39 since returning from a left Achilles injury.
“He just missed a handful,” Boone said. “I thought tonight was encouraging to have him have that level of at-bat. I thought he was on several of them.”
Andújar’s homer — his first in the big leagues this year — backed Nestor Cortes, who retired the first 12 batters he faced in his return from a groin strain. Boone had Cortes on a strict pitch count of 60, making it an easy decision after Gary Sánchez pelted Cortes’ 58th pitch for an RBI double.
“Obviously, we wanted to win that game,” Cortes said. “But as far as I go forward, I think my pitch count is going to be built up. Body-wise, I feel good.”
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