On a scorching July 4 in the Bronx, the Yankees fell 11-4 to the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees didn't lead at any point in the game, and the team's pitching staff allowed six home runs in the loss.
Here are the takeaways…
-- For the 250th Fourth of July in American history, both the Yankees and the Twins wore special caps and jersey numbers which featured an American flag design. The holiday has a storied past for the Yankees, as it also marks the birthdays of two dearly departed Yankees legends, longtime owner George M. Steinbrenner III (1930) and play-by-play commentator John Sterling (1938). Additionally, on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig gave his iconic farewell speech in front of a teary-eyed Yankee Stadium.
-- The Yankees starting pitcher today was 27-year-old righty Brenden Beck, whom New York called up to make his first-ever MLB start in place of the injured Carlos Rodón. Beck, a second-round pick in 2021 by the Yankees, had a game to forget in his big-league debut. He allowed five earned runs on five hits through 3.2 innings, striking out three batters and walking two across 87 pitches. The Twins led 3-0 before Beck recorded a single out, thanks to a Byron Buxton RBI double and a Kody Clemens two-run tater. The following inning, Beck surrendered two more homers, back-to-back solo shots off the bats of Luke Keaschall and Alex Jackson.
-- Beck was relieved by Yankees left-handed reliever Tim Hill, who was taken deep to right field by the first batter he faced, Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach, who padded the Minnesota lead to 6-0 with another solo homer.
-- Twins right-handed starter Zebby Matthews didn't allow his first hit until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Yankees right fielder Jasson Dominguez clobbered a home run with nobody on base. The Yankees' offense was able to find some life and chase Matthews from the game the next inning, tagging the pitcher with three more earned runs thanks to a Max Schuemann two-run blast and a Cody Bellinger RBI double. Twins reliever Travis Adams got Dominguez to ground out to end the fifth inning, stranding Ben Rice at third base and Bellinger at second base.
-- Yankees manager Aaron Boone made a surprising move with the bases loaded and two men out in the bottom of the sixth inning, calling on righty Paul Goldschmidt to pinch-hit for lefty outfielder Trent Grisham with Minnesota's southpaw reliever Taylor Rogers on the mound. Goldschmidt extended his slump with a limp pop fly to left field to leave all three men on base and end the inning, extending his hitless streak to 21 straight at-bats.
-- The struggles continued for the Yankees bullpen and defense in today's game. The scoreboard read 8-4 in favor of Minnesota after Ryan Yarbrough gave up a solo home-run to switch-hitting Twins cleanup hitter Josh Bell in the seventh inning, and after a Jazz Chisholm Jr. fielding error allowed Luke Keaschall to get on base in the eighth inning, Byron Buxton eventually hit a sacrifice fly off of Camilo Doval to drive home the unearned run. In the first 74 games of this season, the Yankees allowed 22 unearned runs. Compare that ratio to the last 14 games, in which the Yanks have allowed 24 unearned runs.
-- Doval did eventually allow earned runs in the form of a Kody Clemens RBI single immediately followed by Josh Bell's second home run of the game. He was finally able to end the eighth inning by striking out Royce Lewis with the Yankees trailing 11-4.
-- Brent Headrick was forced to pitch in the ninth inning, and given the fact that the lefty reliever has been one of the few bright spots in the team's bullpen this season, the Yankees not being able to have Headrick fully fresh for the series-deciding third game tomorrow could be a problem. With two outs, Ryan McMahon made a throwing error attempting to throw out Keaschall after he grounded to third base, but Headrick shut the door one batter later.
Game MVP
Twins designated hitter Josh Bell recorded his 13th career multi-homer game, racking up 775 feet worth of long balls and three RBI in today's game.
Highlights
Next Up
The Yankees conclude their three-game home series against the Twins with the rubber match on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m.
Yankees left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers (3-6, 4.08 ERA) is set to face Twins ace Joe Ryan (5-5, 3.61 ERA) in tomorrow's starting pitching matchup.