https://www.mlb.com/video/cg-nyy-min-7-22-19?t=most-popular
https://www.mlb.com/video/recap-min-8-nyy-6
The #MNTwins, coming off that huge win Sunday afternoon, had very little time to get ready for one of the best teams in the League, the New York Yankees.
The Minnesota Twins had LHP Martin Perez on the mound and, after that 4-game series with the Oakland Athletics, they really needed him to go at least 6 innings. That Minnesota Bullpen (#MNBP) was pretty spent. Spent so much that they had to option RHP Zack Littell and recall LHP Lewis Thorpe to get a fresh arm in the ‘pen just in case. They also put 1B C.J. Cron back on the 10-Day Injured List (IL) with right thumb inflammation and selected the contract of RHP Cody Stashak from AAA Rochester. Stashak has been throwing the ball well but, it might be kind of crazy to make your MLB Debut against the Bombers from the Bronx.
So…it was the Bronx Bombers against the Bombas Twins! Let’s Do This!
Perez began the game by walking the first 2 batters, 2B DJ LeMahieu and RF Aaron Judge, to bring 1B Edwin Encarnacion to the plate with 2 on so…not the greatest start but, hey, there’s always the triple play, right?
YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!!!
Encarnacion hit a grounder down the 3rd baseline & 3B Luis Arraez was running towards 3rd to get to the ball so he stepped on 3rd base then threw a great, accurate throw to 2B Jonathan Schoop at 2nd base and he made the great turn like he always does to catch and throw a rocket to 1B Miguel Sano to end the inning! Now, THAT is efficient!
The Twins offense went to work on LHP C.C. Sabathia right away. Mitch Garver flew out to right field for the 1st out then SS Jorge Polanco hit his 14th HR of the season to put the Twins up 1-0. Nelson Cruz then went back-to-back by hitting his 20th HR of the season to put the Twins up 2-0 in the 1st inning.
Twins know all to well, though, that no lead is ever safe against the Yankees. In the top of the 3rd, the Yankees indeed got a run back when 3B Gio Urshela hit his 10th HR of the season into the bullpen in center field. 2-1 Twins. LF Mike Tauchman followed with a single then DJ LeManhieu hit a double but Tauchman was held at 3rd. Aaron Judge followed with his 2nd walk of the game to load the bases. Encarnacion singled with the bases loaded to score LeMahieu and the Twins 2-run lead was gone.
Martin Perez was able to keep the game tied by getting C Gary Sanchez to ground into a 5-3 inning-ending double play as Arraez stepped on 3rd for the 1st out then threw to 1st for the 2nd out.
The Twins offense has been responding to getting scored on all season long and they kept doing that by scoring 3 runs on a walk, 2 singles, a catcher’s interference call when Nelson Cruz’ swing hit Sanchez’ glove. LF Eddie Rosario & 1B Miguel Sano then hit RBI-groundouts to put the Twins up 5-2!
The Yanks got one run back in the top of the 4th with DH Luke Voit’s 19th HR of the season, a solo shot that made it 5-3 Twins.
Max Kepler saw that Voit HR so he led off the bottom of the 4th with his 25th of the season to get that run back for the Twins and make it 6-3. Then, after a Schoop strikeout and a Arraez groundout, Mitch Garver hit his 18th HR of the season off the top of the left field wall to put the Twins up 7-3.
The Yanks responded with 2 runs in the top of the 5th on a single and DJ LeMahieu’s 15th HR of the season. 7-5 Twins.
This back-and-forth game kept going back and forth, too, but the Yanks got the lead down to just 1 run on a double, a groundout and a single in the top of the 7th off just recalled LHP Lewis Thorpe. DJ LeMahieu then followed that up with a single and Twins Pitching Coach Wes Johnson used a Mound Visit to talk to his young, Australian lefty and on the very next pitch, Thorpe got Aaron Judge to ground into an inning-ending double play.
So…it was the Twins turn and in the bottom of the 7th, Mitch Garver hit his 2nd HR of the game and his 19th HR of the season. His HR in the 4th just barely got out but this one went off the facing of the 2nd deck to make it 8-6 Twins!
Lewis Thorpe pitched the next 1.2 innings giving up just a double before being replaced by RHP Ryne Harper to get the final out of the 8th.
That set up the 9th with LHP Taylor “Mr” Rogers looking for his 15th save of the season and he’d have to do it against the top of the New York lineup of LeMahieu, Judge and Encarnacion. He got LeMahieu to ground out to 3rd for the first out but Judge & Encarnacion both got groundball singles up the middle to put runners at 1st & 3rd with 1 out and Gary Sanchez coming to the plate. Rogers struck out Sanchez swinging on an 86mph slider low and inside then Aaron Hicks came up and he hit the first pitch he saw right back to Rogers who caught it and made the toss to first for the final out of the game to earn that 15th save and give LHP Lewis Thorpe his 1st MLB Win!
What a game!!! All-in-all, there were 8 HRs hit, 3 from the Yankees and 5 from the Twins and all but one of them were solo HRs. 9 runs were scored off of them.
That game really just kept feeling like the Twins weren’t going to be able to keep up with the Yankees but, in the end, they weren’t able to keep up with the Twins. How ‘bout that?
What will tonight bring us?
It’s RHP Kyle Gibson (9-4, 4.02 ERA) pitching against RHP Domingo German (12-2, 3.38 ERA) and it’s on right NOW!
