Twins 2, Yankees 5: You Already Know

Box Score
Mike Paredes: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Home Runs: Kody Clemens (15)
Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-.150), Mike Paredes (-.140), Eric Orze (-.130)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

249 years and 364 days ago, the Continental Congress - a group of men, some famous, some unfamiliar - signed in agreement with the 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson’s writing that men are created equal, and should be bound by the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In dissolving from British rule, they invited a fight. Indeed, a war waged brutally and bloody, nearly sapped the fledgling nation of the power and inertia of its boisterous political declarations. They won, and the spirit of the Revolution lives in this year, and every year since that great document was put forth.

Though the precise meaning of the words of the men who enlightened and debated sparks disagreements to this day, their spirit remains firmly entrenched. A war was fought over these beliefs. Amendments to their words have passed. Yet, through it all, as the country faced challenges, obstacles, and obstructions, the calcified thoughts of our forefathers hover over every endeavor. Their beliefs, like a blanket all-encompassing and warming, remind us of what America was meant to be and what it could become with proper nurturing.

So, baseball. The most American of inventions, next to apple pie and jazz. 

The Twins entered Yankee Stadium on Friday with strange momentum: they won four of their previous five series, yet that one loss was a drumming at the hands of the far superior Dodgers. Where does that leave our Minnesota heroes? Good enough to best the league’s average offerings, but a clear step below the best of the best? How brutal. A cursed lifestyle. We must see better before we can declare this team worthy of the playoff presents gifted to the worthy squads.

And with Mike Paredes set to start against Gerrit Cole , fortune did not favor the Twins, at least in this game. The veteran Cole - armed with lethal stuff and pinpoint control - against the unheralded 25-year-old. The advantage was clear from the beginning.

Yet the Twins found the first lead. Cole diced up Trevor Larnach to start the game and elicited a groundout from Brooks Lee to summon Kody Clemens to the plate with two out and no one on. He got ahead 1-2 before hanging a curveball a touch too high, allowing the hot-swinging lefty to blast the pitch 403 feet out to left-center.

Good stuff. Excellent hitting. Can anyone believe Clemens was a random waiver claim over a year ago?

Short-lived is the grace and wonder of the underdog. Minnesota may have struck first, but this is the Yankees—the boogieman of nightmares for all across the 32nd state. They can, and will, return the favor with prejudice. And so they did, with Trent Grisham smoothly sailing a solo homer into the right-field bombast. Tie game. 

Zeroes were traded until rain disrupted the switch between the top and bottom of the third inning. The precipitation continued to affect the game even after play was re-declared. 

Play again they did, though, and the Yankees quickly put a man on base in front of Ben Rice, who jumped all over a lethargic Paredes fastball for a two-run homer. The Twins answered with a run off a professional Victor Caratini single that split the infield and safely beckoned a dashing Clemens home.

The fifth and sixth passed silently as Kody Funderburk held the Bombers bombless. The seventh was not as quiet. Eric Orze proved eminently hittable, as the Yankees rallied for two off the reliever, doubling, singling, stealing second, sacrifice bunting, and finally sacrifice-flying to cap their two-run add-on. 

Action stalled. A bases-loaded frame for the Twins in the eighth churned nothing. The ninth didn't even bother with the hope and potential for runs. So it goes. 

Notes:

• For tomorrow's game, the Yankees had intended to start Carlos Rodon, but he was placed on the IL today with heavy inflammation in his elbow. 
• Byron Buxton missed his fourth straight game for the Twins due to a right hip impingement. 

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?
The Twins and Yankees meet on the fourth for a 12:35 PM matinee as Zebby Matthews is set to pitch against the temperamental and mercurial TBD.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet