Twins 6, Yankees 1: Gray Freezes Yankees Lineup

[Theodore Tollefson]

A patient approach from the Twins lineup, Joey Gallo’s biggest home run on the year, and Sonny Gray dominating hitters to recapture the number one spot as Major League Baseball’s ERA leaderboard. All this and more in Monday night’s Twins' victory over the New York Yankees. 

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today Sports

Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray  7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (107 pitches, 66 strikes (61.6% strikes))
Home Runs: Joey Gallo (6)
Top 3 WPA:  Sonny Gray .267, Jorge Polanco .165, Michael A. Taylor .078

Win Probability Chart  

It was the top of the eighth. Griffin Jax versus Anthony Rizzo, bases loaded with two outs. The Twins were in crisis mode. Sonny Gray had dominated through seven innings shutting the Yankees down 5-0, but it could be an entirely new ball game with one swing from Rizzo. What would happen?
 
Pitch one; 96 mph fastball, called strike one. Pitch two; 86 mph sweeper, fouled off. Pitch three; 87 mph sweeper; swing and a miss by Rizzo. Crisis averted for the Twins, a 5-0 lead maintained as the Twins went to bat once more in the bottom of the eighth.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last Yankees rally of the game. 

The ninth inning went to Jovani Moran with a 6-0 lead. His struggles showed before an out was made. A walk, a single, then another walk. The nightmares caused Twins fans by the Yankees were awakening once more. However, the baseball gods felt a need to show grace to the Twins just as the nightmare came alive. 

First a force out to Jose Miranda at third. One out, but a run scored, 6-1, Twins lead. Then a fly out to Trevor Larnach in foul territory, out number two. Finally, Moran would have a moment of redemption on the mound by striking out former Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks to end the game. 

Gray improves his MLB-best ERA 
Sonny Gray looked as sharp as ever Monday night against the Yankees. With his command of the strike zone and strong defense behind him, the Yankees couldn’t get any momentum against him. 

Gray wasn’t striking hitters out constantly, but averaging a strikeout per inning had him keeping the Yankees hitters in check. His biggest strikeout of the game came against Aaron Judge with two out and a runner on in the bottom of the sixth. Gray retired him on a nasty 83 MPH slider Judge chased outside the zone, and kept the Yankees from chipping at the Twins' 4-0 lead at a pivotal moment.

Even with a low strikeout total, Gray still had a good number of swings-and-misses which showed his sharpness. The Yankees swung and missed on his pitches 18 times missing on his curveball eight times and cutter seven times. Gray’s seven shutout innings brought his ERA on the season down to 0.62. 

Exiting after the seventh, he had the Major League lead for ERA, passing Shohei Ohtani who held the lead going into the night at 0.64. 

A Different Approach Against Brito
Last time the Twins faced Yankees starter Jhony Brito he didn't make it out of the first inning. This time Brito went deeper, but the Twins' offense took a different approach against him; working his pitch count up early in the game.

Brito faced the minimum in his first inning and only walked one batter in the second, but with Twins hitters working the count in each at-bat, he had thrown 42 pitches through two innings. 

Working a high pitch count through two innings paid off for the Twins' offense as they mustered a bases-loaded threat with no outs in the bottom of the third. With one out and the bases loaded, Jorge Polanco drove in the first two runs of the game with a single to right field. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone had enough of Brito before the third inning was over. Seven of the Twins almost doubled his pitch count at 80 for the evening which resulted in two walks, three singles, a strikeout, and an RBI ground out by Byron Buxton. 

No Brito, no problem
Brito’s early exit from the game made no difference for the Twins hitters as the Yankees bullpen would be dealt further implosion from their offense. It began with another Joey Gallo home run, perhaps his most satisfying of the season so-far, which put the Twins up 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. 

The Twins knocked out the Yankees' first reliever, Greg Weissert, in the next inning with a career-high pitch count at 39 following a two-out single to  Larnach. Albert Abreu was next out of the Yankees bullpen. He walked the first two hitters he faced but got out of his jam with a lineout by Christian Vazquez. 

The Twins still managed to get Abreu’s pitch count to 15 with just three batters. Only one Yankees pitcher managed to throw fewer than 20 pitches against Twins hitters. Wandy Peralta had a nine pitch, one, two, three, seventh inning. Otherwise, the Twins hitters were cooking Yankee arms all game on the mound.

Other notes
The Twins last run of the game came from an impressive RBI triple by Carlos Correa. With some luck and a bad read by Yankee right fielder Franchy Cordero, Correa got the big break he needed at the plate in the game to put the Twins up 6-0. His triple made him the last Twin to reach base in the 6-0 victory. 

What’s Next? 
The Twins play their second game of the series against the Yankees on Tuesday night with Joe Ryan facing off against All Star lefty Nestor Cortes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. 

Postgame Interview 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

 

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[ashbury]

The cool spring temps had nothing to do with the Yankees' difficulty on offense.

That is an excuse we reserve for ourselves.

[Eephus]

Maybe the patient approach will carry over to facing Nestor Cortes Tuesday night. He's got good stuff but seemed like they swung at a lot of balls out of the zone against him last time.

[DocBauer]

Always felt the Twins would try hard to extend one of their FA SP after this season. Thought they might approach Lopez at some point, but would think about someone else to keep since Lopez had another year of control 

Pretty hyped about the Lopez signing.

I just had a gut feeling that Mahle was going to be the guy who would step forward and be the one they really wanted to keep, beyond Lopez. But Gray is looking like the smart move at this point. I know it's a long season and who knows what will happen over 162 games. But even with a bit of an injury history, Gray, last year and this year so far, he sure looks like a 3yr and $18-20M extension candidate if he'd go for it.

Great win! Bats come alive! We play better ball against better teams? Need to find better consistency if that's the case. 

[Aerodeliria]

Pretty ugly stuff, but the Twins stayed the course. Gray was (is?) a stud.

[tony&rodney]

Sonny Gray has been fantastic thus far. Let's hope he is in the discussion for a Cy Young at the end of the year. Gray deserves to test the free agent market though and he is likely to do so.

[darwin22]

Always....repeat ALWAYS a good day when the Twins beat the Evil Empire!

Beyond the amazing (bulldog) performance by Sonny Gray, Polanco is showing how important he can be to this lineup.  Also nice to see Kepler hit the ball with authority tonight.  Can't remember the last time Mad Max had a 3-hit game.  

As mentioned earlier, I thought the biggest positive from our offense tonight (minus Correa) was patience and taking good ABs throughout the early innings.  This was most evidenced in the 3rd inning as Vazquez worked a walk on 7 pitches.  Michael A. Taylor followed with the best AB of the night singling up the middle on the 8th pitch of his AB off Brito.  Later in the inning, Larnach worked his 2nd walk of the night (12 pitches), which knocked Brito out of the game.

If this offense can continue to work counts like tonight they MIGHT be able to survive the miniscule production their getting from Correa, Buxton and Miranda.  Correa's 2nd and 3rd ABs----both whiffs---came in key spots with RISP---bases loaded and runners on 1st and 3rd.  Just horrible!  His (gift) triple in the 9th was his only productive AB of the night.

Will finish with this.  I hate to do this on Moran's birthday, but it must be said.  

He needs a reset NOW in AAA. 

I love his pitch mix, but his command is brutal.  With Thielbar and Headrick as LH RP's what is the downside of demoting him to SP with the intent to get his mechanics/ confidence improved?  

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Wow, Sonny Gray. I would be curious to know if he is still calling his own pitches (I assume so), how many other Twins are calling, or even would be capable of calling their own pitches (no idea), and how common it is across the league (no idea). Whatever it is, it’s working, so don’t tinker or touch a thing!

At this risk of sticking my foot in my mouth, because I know it’s still April, but maybe Gray is capable of pitching at this level as far as the All Star break. (A game he would then be pitching in.) 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Nice win. Polanco’s return is key to the lineup.

Do we have anyone available in AAA to replace Moran? He just can’t throw enough strikes right now. I know we have 49 man issues. Maybe Winder tomorrow or Wednesday?

[VivaBomboRivera!]

13 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Also nice to see Kepler hit the ball with authority tonight.  Can't remember the last time Mad Max had a 3-hit game.

We now have proof positive that the shift rule helps Kep.  Last year those were three outs.

[Aggies7]

One more win and the streak is over 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

2 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Do we have anyone available in AAA to replace Moran? He just can’t throw enough strikes right now.

He settled down after being advised to rely on his changeup, Faced just three batters after loading the bases with no outs, and threw exactly 50% of total pitches (12/24) for strikes in spite of those two hideous walks.  Plenty of upside in that newly-minted 26-year-old. We can afford to see how he deals next game.

[CoastiePilot08]

Moran has gotta go. 
 

If correa and Miranda can ever get going, I’ll be real optimistic about this lineup. 

[Alex Wilde]

Does anyone think we could use Coulombe now with his 0.5 WHIP and 1.5 FIP in 9 innings pitched…? Moran and Alcala should both be at AAA and our long reliever will be a rotating door all season long. The FO needs to stop overthinking easy decisions by choosing “their guys” over proven players.

[CoastiePilot08]

Check out Coulombe’s stats vs Moran/Pagan. 
 

not frustrating at all. 

[Blyleven2011]

I wish I could be impressed every game ...

Pitching and patient hitting shined ...

[tony&rodney]

I'm not ready to give up on Moran. 

[Melissa]

The OP mentions a low strikeout total for Gray. But 8 Ks in 7 innings seems fine to me.

Went to see The Godfather movie tonight, at the Heights Theatre here in the Twin Cities, so I’ll have to watch the game on “tape,” as we used to say.

We have two SRO tickets for Wednesday afternoon. Hope the weather’s warmer, but it’ll be fun no matter what!

[David HK]

Sonny Gray is a bulldog.  A stone-cold killer.  I love that guy, how he battles.

Moran is no Mystery to anyone right now.   Thanks, dude, for forcing our closer to get up and get warm on a frigid night.  He might be gassed for tomorrow now.

And thank God Polanco came back with his hitting shoes on.  The rest of this lineup needs some serious coffee or something.  They gotta wake up, but quick.

[stringer bell]

Great job by Gray. The offense did enough to win most games. Great formula going forward.

[bighat]

Polanco coming back sure has helped - incredible difference. Let's hope the Yankees and other teams don't start pitching around him just yet. 

Gray has been amazing this year. Can this guy stay healthy all season? 

Still waiting for Buxton to catch fire....

Joey Gallo right now in the running for best cheap free agent signing of 2023. Twins may have guessed right on this one. 

[mikelink45]

Did Gray want to pitch 8?  Felt like he could keep going.  Jax and Moran were both scary yesterday.  I am with those who think Gray is a good candidate for an extension.  I also like the way he works and I am always bothered by judging a pitcher on how many strikeouts he has.  That is not the only thing a good pitcher can do. 

[Major League Ready]

Welcome back Jorge Polanco.  We are so happy to see you in the lineup.   Sonny Gray sure sets a great example of how to compete for the youngsters and the rest the team in general.  Now, if Correa and Miranda can get their acts together.  They are both taking poor ABs.  Miranda was swinging at pitches a foot out of the zone once he got 2 strikes.  Reminded me of Eddy Rosario and that total lack of discipline was the difference between Rosario being great and the replacement level player he is today.

[jmlease1]

Very good team game last night. Gray was very tough and bullied the Evil Empire for 7 innings, but also had some nice defense behind him. And I'll probably always be happy with 10 hits and 6 BBs from the offense. Sure helps to have Polanco back in there.

Neither Jax or Moran were sharp last night, but both were able to limit the damage. Would have been nice for them to be a little cleaner, but it's not always going to go that way. Moran might need a re-set in AAA, but it's also still pretty early.

Good to see two LH OFs who haven't been great lately come through in Larnach (1 hit, 2 walks) and Kepler (3 hits).

 

[wabene]

Gray is fun to watch he just gets after it. It's being said he will want to test free agency which would most likely greatly diminish the chances he resigns with the Twins. If he keeps this up and the Twins give the Qualifying Offer, he either stays on a 1 year deal or we get basically the same pick we gave up for him. Either option is good for the Twins.  Gray might not like it. With the pick the Twins would be getting 2 years of Gray for free. 

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Sonny Gray has been fantastic thus far. Let's hope he is in the discussion for a Cy Young at the end of the year. Gray deserves to test the free agent market though and he is likely to do so.

And let's hope that Sonny stays healthy and doesn't go on the IL at any point this year!

[William K Johnson]

Miranda's defense at third base in almost comical.

[Peter]

Great bounce back from Boston and Washington!!! Huge win-let’s get another one today and win series for first time since 2001

[Major League Ready]

25 minutes ago, wabene said:

Gray is fun to watch he just gets after it. It's being said he will want to test free agency which would most likely greatly diminish the chances he resigns with the Twins. If he keeps this up and the Twins give the Qualifying Offer, he either stays on a 1 year deal or we get basically the same pick we gave up for him. Either option is good for the Twins.  Gray might not like it. With the pick the Twins would be getting 2 years of Gray for free. 

That's a good catch.  The pick would be just a few picks later than Petty.  Even if he pitches to the same level as last year he would be worth a qualifying offer.  An overpay on a one-year deal is generally going to be better than signing a 34 y/o SP to a 3 or 4 year deal.  I agree, either way, this should work out favorably for the Twins.  Let's hope he stays healthy.

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Gray, looks like a 3yr and $18-20M extension candidate if he'd go for it.

Pitching like this he's likely 4 year $100M+ in the offseason. Enjoy this year, give him the QO and get the draft pick.

He's been fantastic so far, a clear All-Star candidate.