Yankees 6, Twins 1: German Hands Twins Loss in Suspicious Fashion

Box Score
SP: Tyler Mahle: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 90 pitches, 53 strikes (58.9%)
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Carlos Correa (-0.70), Eduoard Julien (-0.68) Jorge Alcalá  (-0.37)

Win Probability Chart (via Fangraphs):

Can the Twins run of quality starting pitching continue?
Tyler Mahle took the mound for the Twins and his stuff was good throughout his start, generating numerous swings and misses on his split changeup and fourteen whiffs total. His control was a little off however, missing with his fastball in the zone. His error in the second, misplaying a dribbler that allowed Franchy Cordero to reach, put a runner on base for Kyle Higashioka who pulverized an elevated fastball to put the Twins behind two zero. He continued to fall behind hitters and give up hard contact and after giving up a blistered double to Aaron Judge, it became apparent he would be the first Twins starter to fall short of completing five innings this year. It was a good run.

Domingo German dominant, but suspicious
Thought to represent the soft underbelly of the Yankees pitching staff along with Clarke Schmidt, German instead was sharp with his command, throwing riding fastballs up in the zone and pairing it with a sharp slider and changeup. He was perfect the first time through the order, striking out six. 

This aroused at least some suspicion from the umpires, who conferred before the start of the fourth regarding some sticky stuff on German's glove. German was allowed to stay after removing a substance, prompting Rocco Baldelli to protest and eventually be ejected from the game. Umpire James Hoye could be seen telling German, who previously was suspended for violating the league's domestic abuse policy, "I told you to wipe it off!" 

The league was supposed to be cracking down harder on the foreign substance issue this year, following the crackdown mid-2021 and then a gradual relaxation following. Hoye’s exclamation would seem to indicate that German was told to remove a substance but did not comply. 

His spin rate decreased significantly afterward. Conspiratorial baseball fans will note the Yankees being implicated for sign stealing during the Astros investigation, as well as sample balls from Yankees games being shown to have more bounce to them during the 2022 season, as compared to sample balls from other games.

Boom or bust offense continues 
Twins hitters swung over German’s changeup and underneath his fastball all day. The hitters that chose to be aggressive were rolling over pitches and grounding out quickly, while the hitters that tried to work the count fell behind and let German dictate the at-bat. Whether that was due to some unlawful pitching aid or not, the Twins hitters were not in command of the game. Trevor Larnach and Jose Miranda doubled in the seventh for the Twins’ first run, but Max Kepler grounded into an inning-ending double-play to end the threat.

Morán shows improvement
Taking over for Mahle in the fifth, Jovani Morán inherited runners on the corners and only one out. He induced a groundout to Cabrera, which Jose Miranda made a nice play on, nailing LeMahieu trying to score. Morán then got Cordero to tap out to end the threat. He then had a one two three sixth inning, although his control was wobbly, getting a few charitable strike three calls from the home plate umpire.

Jorge Alcalá was a different story, however, following Morán for the seventh and hitting LeMahieu, walking Judge and allowing a sharp double on a middle-middle slider to Giancarlo Stanton which plated two more runs. He did settle down in his next inning outside of an Anthony Volpe single (and two stolen bases).

What’s Next: 
Pablo Lopez (1-0, 1.35 ERA) will look to continue his run of dominance, going up against Gerrit Cole (3-0, 1.40 ERA) in the series finale. Cole was very effective against the Twins last September, but they did pop five home runs against him at Target field last June.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Chart