Friday night began with two bangs for the Yankees, yet the Twins still improved to 2-0 this series a night after thrashing the Bombers on their home turf.
Things fell apart for the Yankees in the eighth inning when Aaron Boone brought in Clay Holmes, typically the Yankees’ closer, to face Twins No. 9 hitter Michael A. Taylor and the top of Minnesota’s lineup. The Yankees held a 3-2 lead at the time, but that didn’t last long.
Taylor singled to right after four pitches, while leadoff man Byron Buxton needed six to walk. Carlos Correa then responded to his customary Bronx cheers by lacing a double on the ground to right, which scored the two speedy outfielders on the basepaths. Just like that, the Twins took a 4-3 lead that they never relinquished. It was the second time in as many days that the Yankees’ longtime doormat defeated them after Minnesota cruised to an 11-2 win on Thursday night.
After the game, Boone said that he wanted Holmes to face Minnesota’s best righties. The manager also said that Michael King was not available after throwing two innings two days ago.
Holmes knew his entrance would be determined on the lineup, not the inning.
“Pitching the eighth or the ninth, there’s really no excuse not to get the job done,” he said. “I kind of know that’s my lane going into the game.”
While the Yankees did not get the result they wanted from Holmes in the eighth, they surely have to hope the future holds more innings like Friday’s bottom of the first.
That’s when Anthony Volpe, leading off in place of the banged-up DJ LeMahieu, deposited a Louie Varland fastball into the left field seats at Yankee Stadium. The home run, the first of Volpe’s career, gave the Yankees a near-instant lead a night after the Twins pounced on the Bombers and Jhony Brito with a nine-run first in their blowout win.
The 21-year-old Volpe said he “completely blacked out” after the home run, which his family was present for.
The Yankees didn’t flirt with double-digits in the opening frame on Friday, but the scoring didn’t end with Volpe’s early-career milestone. Aaron Judge immediately followed the rookie shortstop with a solo shot of his own to right field, his fifth home run of the year. The two blasts gave the Yankees a preview of what the next several years in the Bronx could look like if all goes according to plan.
“It was amazing seeing the reaction of the crowd and how everyone got behind the team,” Volpe added. “It was special.”
But Varland settled down for the most part after the first, tossing six innings of three-run ball while striking out eight and walking one. Giancarlo Stanton tagged the Twins righty for a frozen rope homer in the sixth inning, but the 105-mile-per-hour rocket, another solo shot, ultimately wasn’t enough.
“He threw the ball well,” Boone said of Varland. “We got to a couple heaters there. We beat him there at the top of the zone. But overall, he did a really good job of attacking the strike zone, and his cutter became a real factor for him.”
Like Varland, Nestor Cortes also served up multiple home runs in the game. Correa launched a solo shot, his second in as many days, in the sixth inning, while Kyle Garlick put another run on the board with a longball in the seventh inning. That cut Minnesota’s deficit to one.
Despite the dingers — and two hit batters — Cortes recorded his longest outing of the season. The left-hander went seven strong while striking out just as many Twins on a season-high 93 pitches. Cortes didn’t issue any walks, either.
“I thought his stuff tonight was really good,” Boone said of Cortes. “Probably as good a changeup as we’ve seen him have. Changed some shapes on everything from the slider to the cutter. I thought he was really good. Obviously, they got him for a couple homers, but overall, I thought stuff-wise, he was really good.”
With 17.1 innings under his belt now, Cortes owns a 2.60 ERA through three starts.
With two weekend games remaining, the Yankees still have a chance to tie this series. They’ll need Domingo German, Saturday’s starter, to buckle down if they want to improve their odds of doing that. He owns a 5.78 ERA this season.
German will oppose fellow righty Tyler Mahle.
Sunday’s game, meanwhile, features a matchup of two aces, as Gerrit Cole and Pablo Lopez will duel in the series finales. Cole has a 1.40 ERA this season, while Lopez owns a 1.35 mark.
