About Last Night: Twins Over Yanks

by Carlos Martinez-Cabrera

April 26, 2023

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The Twins, for the first time in decades, won a season series against the Yankees with their 6-2 victory last night.

Quick Stats -

• Win - Joe Ryan (5-0, 2.81 ERA)

• Loss - Nestor Cortes (3-1, 3.49 ERA)
  

• Home Runs (Yankees): N/A (Sigh)

• Home Runs (Twins): Byron Buxton (4), Trevor Larnach (3)
  

Big Story - The Yankees have had a horrendous stretch of games lately. They came into this game losing three of their last four which includes a series where the Yankees lost to the Blue Jays. The Yankees right now are not a good team. They are missing various key pieces such as Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon, Harrison Bader, Luis Severino, etc. They are trying to make do with the team that they have, which in turn, is just not a great team. In recent games, there has been a lack of offense and a rotation that basically revolves between Nestor Cortes and Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees got their first hit with Judge singling down to left. Aaron Judge would be driven in by DJ LeMahieu with an RBI single. This would be the only run the Yankees drove in without the help of an error.

The Twins would score later on in the third inning with an RBI double by Donovan Solano with Michael Taylor coming in all the way from first. Jorge Polanco would also double which brought in Donovan Solano. Later on in the fifth inning, the Twins would try to make a double play but results in an error that lets the Yankees score. This would be the last run the Yankees would score in the game. In the sixth inning, Byron Buxton would send Nestor Cortes out of the game by hitting a two-run home run. Later in that same inning, Trevor Larnach would also hit a 2-run home run which made it a 6-2 ball game. Neither team would score after this. But, there was an awesome diving play made by Jorge Polanco in the 8th inning for the highlight reels.

Player(s) of the Game -

I cannot give it out tonight, unfortunately. The pitching was not the best, to say the least. The offense scored only off of an RBI single off of LeMahieu with the other one coming off an error.

Better to Forget -

This game. This was a hard watch. It was a close game for quite a while, but it got increasingly more painful to watch the Yankees being so close but seeing that offense was not doing anything to take the lead.

My Take -

I have tried to not be too negative on the site, but this starting to look like the same old Yankees. Right now, this team just makes me believe that the season is going to end like every other. The Yankees make the playoffs with a very slim lead with it ending in a playoff loss to the Astros.

It also does not help that the major transactions the Yankees have made have not paid off. For example, Carlos Rodon has yet to make a start for the Yankees as he started the season out injured. Harrison Bader arrived at the Yankees last year injured and started this season out the same way.

And like every other season, the Yankees have high expectations but deliver the same old results. This has to do with the fact that they also seem to have the same problem as every other year. The offense can get short hot streaks but tend to have cold streaks that last even longer. The Yankees have a very weak left-handed hitter core which has been a big problem in recent years. The only solid left-handed hitter is Anthony Rizzo.

Right now, I pray that the return of some stars from the injured list, call-ups from the minors, or even a trade can change the direction where this team is going.

Fun Fact: The Yankees are 0-3 when I have to write the "About Last Night" articles so that might be a trend to watch out for.

Next Up -

The Yankees end their series against the twins at 1:10 today. Domingo German is facing off against Kenta Maeda where the Yankees will look to avoid getting swept.