Yankees 1, Twins 4: Opportunity missed as Yanks can't finish the sweep

Yahoo

a day ago

This was one of those games that you would hate to go to as a fan.
A lengthy delay pushed first pitch to 8:57 p.m., and the Yankees' offense did not show up. Aside from a home run by Cody Bellinger and some hard contact early, the Yanks were flummoxed by a sharp outing by Joe Ryan, who tossed 6.2 innings with heightened velocity and a season-high in pitches. Cam Schlittler held serve, but the wrong button was pushed in the bullpen, as the Twins plated three in the sixth that proved to be the difference in a 4-1 loss that saw the Yankees fail to finish off a sweep for just the second time this season and first since early April.
After a long delay of 1 hour and 52 minutes, Cam Schlittler took the mound just a hair before 9 p.m. and drew a first-pitch groundout to start his day, covering the bag on a grounder to Ben Rice. Schlittler continued to be tested defensively, fielding a slow grounder from Byron Buxton and then having to cover first again on a ground ball from Luke Keaschall. Three balls in play, all three involving the pitcher and first baseman defensively.
Ryan took the mound in the bottom half with something to prove. A guy who usually sits 93-94 was pumping 96-97 to the top of the Yankees' order in the first. Trent Grisham ripped an RBI single to start and got to second on a passed ball, but Ryan retired Judge and Bellinger with relative ease. The blistering hot Giancarlo Stanton came up with two out and obliterated a 1-1 sweeper at the knees to dead center at 108.4 mph and 29 degrees, only for it to land in the glove of Buxton on the warning track. That ball had a .970 xBA and, according to Baseball Savant, balls hit with those specs are home runs 96.2 percent of the time. Sure, I guess.
Schlittler kept it moving with a 1-2-3 second inning, and the Yankees continued to sting balls off of Ryan, as Rice ripped a leadoff single and Anthony Volpe barreled up a warning track flyout. A two-out walk by Ryan McMahon gave Austin Wells a chance, but his brutally long slide continued with a weak groundout.
Something that Schlittler has badly needed in his young major league career was a strong start the first time through. Entering play, he had allowed hitters to slash .297/.409/.568 in their first plate appearance, but he sat down the Twins in order 1-2-3 in each of the first three innings with three strikeouts.
Ryan, still holding strong velocity, retired Grisham and Judge to open the third before throwing one right in the bat path of Bellinger, who smashed his 22nd home run of the season to take the lead, 1-0. Although relatively unscathed through three innings, Ryan had already allowed seven balls over 100 mph.
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Schlittler allowed his first baserunner on a leadoff walk to Trevor Larnach before getting worn down in a long at-bat by Buxton, who drilled a double to left, snapping an insane 0-for-36 stretch for the Twins' bats. The Twins were taking some tough offspeed pitches and fouling off well-executed fastballs. Keaschall tapped a ball to second base, and the Yankees gave up the run, tying the game at one on an RBI groundout. Kody Clemens was struck out on three pitches, but Ryan Jeffers worked a four-pitch walk. After a mound visit, Cam found the strike zone and induced a pop-fly to end the inning.
Ryan had by far his best inning in the fourth, striking out the side in order with some sensational location. Schlittler responded with a hard-fought scoreless fifth, where he threw 23 pitches in an inning where he only surrendered a one-out single to Alan Roden and a stolen base. That did it for him, as the Twins ground him down all night despite not much success. He struck out six and gave up just two hits and a walk in five innings. In my eyes, it was his best start in the majors, as he looked in command from start to finish, stayed off the barrel, and commanded his offspeed as well as we've seen. Aside from losing a lengthy battle to Buxton, he was great. Big step forward for the rook.
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Ryan got another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth before the Yankees turned it over to Yerry De los Santos. Buxton hit a rocket to Volpe that was almost a spectacular play if not for his remarkable speed, and Keaschall hit a ground ball to third that could only be knocked down by Ryan McMahon to set the Twins up. If any Twin was predictable for a big moment against the Yankees this season, it would be Kody Clemens. With his legendary father, Roger, in attendance, Clemens ripped a two-run double to right-center to chase De los Santos. Mark Leiter Jr. came in and nearly walked a tightrope, but surrendered a dinky double to Royce Lewis that scored another run. When the dust settled, it's 4-1 Twins.
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Ryan kept going in the sixth, working around a one-out walk by Bellinger. The much-maligned Devin Williams tossed a 1-2-3 seventh in his second straight strong outing since being removed from the closer role. Ryan came back out for the seventh and tried his hardest to talk Rocco Baldelli into letting him finish the seventh. Despite a one-out double by Volpe, Ryan got to stay in to get two outs in the seventh and throw a season-high 102 pitches. Interestingly, Aaron Boone elected to stick with Austin Wells against Kody Funderburk, only for Wells to strike out on a perfectly dotted sweeper down and away.
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Camilo Doval came on for the eighth and pitched around the classic pitch clock violation walk to throw a scoreless inning. Justin Topa dominated in the bottom of the eighth for the Twins, and Brent Headrick sidestepped some trouble in the ninth to keep the game in range.
Topa started the ninth and got into a long at-bat with Stanton, who won it with a bullet single to left field. Unfortunately, Rice erased the runner with a 6-6-3 double play and Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out to end an affair that lasted deep into the night, as the Yanks couldn't finish off the sweep.
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Fortunately, everyone around the Yankees lost, so they don't lose any ground. But it was also a missed opportunity to gain ground in the division and separation in the wild card race, as the Guardians, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mariners, and Rangers all lost.
After an off-day tomorrow, the Yankees are heading to the Lou to start a three-game weekend set with the St. Louis Cardinals. It'll be Luis Gil against Andre Pallante at 8:15 pm EDT on YES.
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