Yankees 9, Twins 1: Carlos Rodón, More Yankees Homers Crush Twins Underfoot

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Travis Adams 2.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (70 pitches, 36 strikes (51%))
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Adams (-.356), Luke Keaschall (-.101), Kody Clemens (-.061)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 
 

Travis Adams took the mound at Yankee Stadium for his second career start, and he hoped to keep the homer-happy home lineup under control so that the Twins could even up the series. Big lefty Carlos Rodón opposed Adams, and the Twins hoped that Tuesday wouldn't be yet another failure against left-handed pitching in 2025. With the Wild Card window closing more completely by the day, a win on Empire sod was in order. Could such an unlikely outcome actually transpire?

Opening Hope
Austin Martin led off the game with a bloop to right, and he stole second base to immediately put a runner in scoring position for the visiting Twins. That would be the only hit the Twins got all night. Byron Buxton took a walk, and Ryan Jeffers took a pitch off his kneecap, and suddenly, the Twins had their worst possible run-scoring scenario: bases loaded and nobody out. Minnesota's newest Cooperstown enshrinee, Luke Keaschall, stood at the plate with a chance to immediately get his statue at Target Field with one swing of the bat. Rodón took the rookie to the cleaners, however, with a high fastball for strike three. Royce Lewis looked to have hit into a heart-wrenching double play, but he beat out the relay throw and Martin scampered home to set the Twins up with an early 1-0 advantage.

That was all the Twins could muster, however, and Twins fans knew that it was an opportunity missed.

Yankees Go Yard
Adams successfully got Trent Grisham to fly out to start his efforts for the evening, but Aaron Judge quickly introduced himself as a bad, bad man. Judge took a middle-middle (for a giant) fastball deep to center field to tie things up. In the bottom of the second inning, Adams literally lost control of his outing. He walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. to start the inning, and then walked Ryan McMahon with one out. This put the much-maligned Anthony Volpe at the plate, and by the time his 3-run homer landed in the right-center seats, Yankees fans celebrated the return of their young phenom and a new 4-1 lead.

Adams' control continued to unravel in the bottom of the third inning. After Cody Bellinger reached on an Edouard Julien fielding mishap at first, Adams walked Ben Rice and Chisholm again to end his night before he could finish three innings for the second straight outing. New Twins twirler Thomas Hatch entered to take on the bases loaded, one-out scenario. Hatch struck out Paul Goldschmidt and induced a ground out from McMahon to (surprisingly) escape the threat.

The Twins Can't Hit Left-Handed Pitching
After Rodón escaped the first inning with minimal damage done after 31 pitches, however, he took out the Twins in order in the second, third, fourth, and fifth, with only 39 more pitches required. By comparison, Adams hurled 70 pitches to get just seven outs. Weak contact ruled the evening against the crafty Rodón, who mixed pitches between 80 and 94 mph in the way that has consistently quieted Twins bats this season. (Granted, he was facing the likes of Mickey Gasper, Julien, and Ryan Fitzgerald, instead of Goldschmidt, McMahon, and Volpe at the bottom of the lineup.) The Twins entered the sixth inning without a hit since Martin's bloop to start the game.

Hatch stayed out to start the bottom of the fifth, and Giancarlo Stanton was sure glad that he did. Stanton blasted a hanging slider 113.9 mph for yet another Yankees home run to make it 5-1. Hatch surrendered another hit and a walk in the inning, and with two outs and runners on the corners, Rocco Baldelli elected to keep him pitching past his 50th pitch with the newly dangerous Volpe at the plate. Volpe walked on what looked to be strike two, and now the bases were loaded for Grisham. With crickets chirping in the bullpen, Hatch buckled down and got Grisham to weakly ground out to the mound to end this threat on Hatch's 59th pitch. 

More of the Same
Rodón continued to obliterate Twins batters, surrendering only a walk to Jeffers on his way to completing seven innings of one-hit baseball. Meanwhile, the use of the pitching staff in Tuesday's game made it clear that winning wasn't really the concern, as Hatch was allowed to overcook and to walk most of the lineup while the bullpen stayed quiet. Hatch continued to throw pitch after pitch, regardless of results, escaping a threat in the sixth but walking in another run on his 99th pitch with a bases-loaded pass to Bellinger with two outs in the seventh. This was the 7th walk by Hatch tonight in 4 1/3 innings of work. With the bases still loaded, Kody Funderburk finally came on in relief to try to entice Stanton into a rare out in a seemingly unwinnable situation. It didn't work. Stanton ripped a full-count "single" off the wall in right to score two more Yankees runs and make the blowout official: 8-1. 

The Twins offense, meanwhile, got a look at a new pitcher in Tim Hill. Unfortunately, Hill is also a lefty, so the Twins didn't do anything against him. Three up, three down. With the game out of reach, Byron Buxton took a seat on the bench and Martin took his place in center field. With Cole Sands now on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, Chisholm ripped a rocket out to deep center field that Buxton probably would have hauled in, but Martin's lunging dive came up short and Chisholm ended up with a triple instead of an out. A groundout scored him to push the ninth Yankee run across. The Yankees finally brought in a right-handed pitcher in Yerry De los Santos in the ninth, but the Twins fared no better. Alan Roden, newly returned papa Matt Wallner, and Keaschall went down in order to complete the one-hitter by the Yankees staff. 

What’s Next?
The Twins look to salvage the final game of this short road trip and to avoid going winless against the Yankees this season. They'll place their hopes in All-Star Joe Ryan (11-5, 2.79 ERA). The Yankees will send out rookie RHP Cam Schlittler (1-2, 4.38 ERA) for his sixth career start. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Hatch	0	0	0	0	99	99
Tonkin	0	18	38	0	0	56
Kriske	17	0	17	19	0	53
Ramírez	0	21	0	23	0	44
Adams	43	0	0	0	0	43
Ohl	0	0	36	0	0	36
Topa	0	15	20	0	0	35
Sands	9	0	9	0	16	34
Funderburk	0	0	9	0	13	22

 

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[thelanges5]

Gleeman:

Twins are now 44-125 (.260) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including 9 straight losses.

Twins' winning percentage is .514 vs. all other teams since 2002.

All three Twins managers since 2002 have a sub-.270 winning% vs. the Yankees.

.269 — Ron Gardenhire
.259 — Paul Molitor
.237 — Rocco Baldelli

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, thelanges5 said:

Gleeman:

Twins are now 44-125 (.260) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including 9 straight losses.

Twins' winning percentage is .514 vs. all other teams since 2002.

All three Twins managers since 2002 have a sub-.270 winning% vs. the Yankees.

.269 — Ron Gardenhire
.259 — Paul Molitor
.237 — Rocco Baldelli

Unreal. 

[Aggies7]

That was a non-effort tonight, except for Hatch who took one for the team. That game was over the second Luke K struck out with the bases loaded. It should have surprised not a single twins fan. Bring up the starters you traded to get and see what they can do. Waited all day to announce Adams as the starter and it was a total dud.

[tony&rodney]

No complaints. This is the reality of the current roster and nobody should be surprised. Seems like the Twins are playing hard but there is a pretty stiff differential in talent plus experience.

[USAFChief]

There are those who have stated this version of the Twins is more enjoyable to watch.

I am not among those. 

 

[Aggies7]

Just now, USAFChief said:

There are those who have stated this version of the Twins is more enjoyable to watch.

I am not among those. 

 

Lol I did state that but it’s returned to form the last 3-4 games. It would help to not have bullpen games every couple days. 

[mikelink45]

Based on 99 pitches I suspect that hatch was our sacrificial pitchers and if we follow a form he will be DFAed. 

And our one hit team seems to be going back to form.

[big dog]

What have we learned about Adam’s? 

Enough. I’ve learned enough. 

[Old Crow]

It's hard to have a bullpen game when you don't have a bullpen.

[thelanges5]

Twins offense now 24th in OPS with RISP. 

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

Gleeman:

Twins are now 44-125 (.260) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including 9 straight losses.

Twins' winning percentage is .514 vs. all other teams since 2002.

All three Twins managers since 2002 have a sub-.270 winning% vs. the Yankees.

.269 — Ron Gardenhire
.259 — Paul Molitor
.237 — Rocco Baldelli

Doesn't seem like they have played them that good.

[Vanimal46]

I hope Falvey is learning a valuable lesson that the mass training of minor league pitchers to be nothing but “bulk” pitchers is going to get him fired. Length is needed at the highest level. 

I know some people here have been wanting a piggy back type of pitching staff for years and it almost never works out in reality. A manager is left with burning the entire bullpen, or letting 1 guy be the sacrificial lamb. Hatch had no business soaking up that many innings but here we are. 

Falvey needs to go immediately after this season. 

[David HK]

Yes, like all of us, I'm sick of losing to these guys.

But I'm waaaay more sick of rolling over t*ts-up and embarrassing themselves and all of us who stick by them, time and again and again and again.

[Parfigliano]

17 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I hope Falvey is learning a valuable lesson that the mass training of minor league pitchers to be nothing but “bulk” pitchers is going to get him fired. Length is needed at the highest level. 

I know some people here have been wanting a piggy back type of pitching staff for years and it almost never works out in reality. A manager is left with burning the entire bullpen, or letting 1 guy be the sacrificial lamb. Hatch had no business soaking up that many innings but here we are. 

Falvey needs to go immediately after this season. 

Why wait?  Fire him today.

[knothole61]

Four hits in two full games against the mediocre Yankees...do I have that right?

[glunn]

I am no longer watching any games -- it's not fun seeing this team play and how they are being managed.

Maybe there is a chance that Ryan can spark a win tomorrow, but overall the future seems bleak.

 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

SSDY

[Peter]

Can’t beat the Yankees-it’s men amongst boys. I know I’ll get ripped on this but  I’ll still watch twins no matter what!!! To emotionally invested to quit. It’s has to get better doesn’t it? Especially with number 2 farm system in MLB? Realistically it’s going to be 2028(hoping next year) once we get new ownership(it’s going to happen)Twins will win another World Series championship!!! 

[CRF]

I'm so tired of this. It really effing sucks!

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Lol I did state that but it’s returned to form the last 3-4 games. It would help to not have bullpen games every couple days. 

It would also help not to play against the Yankees. Talent differential.... plus that darn curse. 

[Doctor Wu]

9 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Gleeman:

Twins are now 44-125 (.260) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including 9 straight losses.

Twins' winning percentage is .514 vs. all other teams since 2002.

All three Twins managers since 2002 have a sub-.270 winning% vs. the Yankees.

.269 — Ron Gardenhire
.259 — Paul Molitor
.237 — Rocco Baldelli

This obviously means that we need to bring back Gardy!

[hitterscount]

The rebuild that will begin this winter will not be completed for years without free agent spending. When the front office decimated the BP at the trading deadline they left themselves with arguably the worst BP all of baseball and  a lineup that barely qualifies as major league worthy. Before the brain trust traded every viable BP arm, what was  needed was a plan to retool the every day lineup, which was no small task;  corner OF, SS, 2nd and 1st needed to be addressed. Now you need upgrades in those positions plus an entire BP.  I don't want to here how easy it is to just throw in arms in the BP and you will be fine. It was less than five years ago we had Colome and than Pagan as the closers, we were out of playoff contention by mid-May due to those porous BP that blew lead after lead to begin those two seasons.. And this current lineup and BP is significantly worse.

[Whitey333]

Im afraid the past couple of games is more the type of baseball we are going to see than the previous 6 or so.  Very embarrassing  to just roll over and play dead agai st the Yankees.  New York papers were laughing at Twins even before the series started.  Maybe Ryan can get us a win Wednesday.  Then we get to come home and face Skubal and Tigers on Thursday.  Oh my!

[LeatherAntenna]

9 hours ago, USAFChief said:

There are those who have stated this version of the Twins is more enjoyable to watch.

I am not among those. 

 

What little offense it has been, 4 hits in two days?  That seems not possible for an mlb team.  

 

[PatG]

At this point, does is it seem like a weird, wild idea to bring up McCusker and actually give him a "20 game" chance?

Is Roden (fill in your player) the person we want to give a chance?

Can someone explain why McCusker isn't playing at Target?

Or just someone that even acts like they want to hit the ball (think Mr Baseball, Tom Selleck, "I want to hit a baseball")

[rv78]

Say what you want about the current roster. They can't hit and they can't pitch. But even if they would have had the roster they had before the deadline sell-off they still would have lost. I tuned in to watch a couple innings and twice the camera man showed the players in the Yankee dugout looking out onto the field at the Twins and they were smiling and laughing. Watching the Twins try to compete was comical to them. They know this organization is a joke. You have owners who don't give a rats a$$, A Front Office that brings in guys like Gasper, Bride, Clemens, Hatch, Wentz, Kriske, and a Manager that doesn't even know how to set a lineup and play his best players regularly. 

The former roster deserved to be blown-up. Now lets get rid of the Owners, Front Office, Manager and Coaches so we don't have to continue to throw-up when we watch 'em.

[TwinsDr2021]

9 minutes ago, PatG said:

At this point, does is it seem like a weird, wild idea to bring up McCusker and actually give him a "20 game" chance?

Is Roden (fill in your player) the person we want to give a chance?

Can someone explain why McCusker isn't playing at Target?

Or just someone that even acts like they want to hit the ball (think Mr Baseball, Tom Selleck, "I want to hit a baseball")

He is 27 and has a .796 OPS in AAA. No speed and limited defense. 

His OPS is lower than Martin, Fitzgerald, Erod, Cardenas, Keirsey, Julien, Gasper.

In other words he is a non-prospect (Like the whole Bullpen, so.....)

 

[jorgenswest]

10 hours ago, USAFChief said:

There are those who have stated this version of the Twins is more enjoyable to watch.

I am not among those. 

 

That 13-1 loss in Boston is still on the top of my unwatchable list. Yesterday was close. Neither offered any hope that this team will be competitive next year. I need that hope. I can’t wait three to five years.

[Rhyno006]

10 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Gleeman:

Twins are now 44-125 (.260) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including 9 straight losses.

Twins' winning percentage is .514 vs. all other teams since 2002.

All three Twins managers since 2002 have a sub-.270 winning% vs. the Yankees.

.269 — Ron Gardenhire
.259 — Paul Molitor
.237 — Rocco Baldelli

Ahhh yes, the Twins were just what the Yankees needed to get their season back on track for the playoff push.