The Yankees beat the Twins, 12-6, in the finale of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota.
Here are the takeaways…
– The Yanks used aggressiveness, small-ball, and some Twins miscues to break the ice in the top of the second.
Gleyber Torres led off the inning with a sharp base hit to right field and tested the arm of center fielder Nick Gordon while trying to advance to second base. Gordon threw the ball away, allowing Torres to reach third. Willie Calhoun then singled on a ground ball to Joey Gallowith Gallo strangely tossing the ball to the second baseman instead of Kenta Maeda — who was covering first base. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a bunt single just past the outstretched Maeda.
With the bases loaded and the Yanks up, 1-0, Anthony Volpe lined a single the other way to extend the lead to 2-0. Aaron Judge then pounced on a splitter, ripping a bases-clearing double down the left field line to make it 5-0 New York.
The Bombers piled on in the fourth, scoring six more runs as their lead ballooned to 11-1.
– Given that 11-1 lead Domingo German was shaky He opened the fourth inning by walking Trevor Larnach and allowing a two-run homer to Jose Miranda.
In the sixth, German hit Miranda and was then victimized by the former Yankee Joey Gallowho crushed a two-run shot to right field to trim New York’s lead to 11-5.
German gave up a leadoff triple to start the seventh before being removed.
Overall, he allowed six runs on six hits while walking two and striking out eight as his ERA rose to 5.54.
– Volpe had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, three runs scored, and two walks. That included a run-scoring single in the second inning and an RBI double in the fourth.
– Judge — who was the designated hitter on Wednesday — gave the Yanks a scare in the second inning.
As he was thrown out trying to steal third base, Judge jammed his right hand into the bag and immediately went to the clubhouse after returning to the dugout. He emerged soon after and was seen flexing his hand/wrist, but stayed in the game without incident.
The 12 runs the Yankees scored were the most they’ve scored in a game this season — the previous high was 11.
The offensive eruption came after they had scored just eight runs in their last five games.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees open a four-game series with the Rangers on Thursday in Texas.
Gerrit Cole gets the start for New York, opposite Andrew Heaney.