Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-Twins Preview (7/24-7/26)

By Ricky Keeler | Jul 24, 2015

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, brought to you by KNODA.com, I started off the show by talking about the New York Yankees (53-41) sweeping the Baltimore Orioles this week at Yankee Stadium. New York outscored the Orioles 16-8 in the three games, with nine of the 16 runs coming in yesterday’s win against Ubaldo Jimenez.

With the sweep, the Yankees now lead the Orioles by seven games in the division and they are 5.5 games ahead of the second place team, the Toronto Blue Jays. After going 5-1 on their six-game homestand, the Yankees will be on the road starting tonight for ten games. Their first three games will be against one of the surprise teams in baseball this season, the Minnesota Twins (51-44), at Target Field .

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In his first season as the manager in Minnesota, Paul Molitor has his club in second place in the AL Central, trailing the Royals by 6.5 games. However, if the season ended today, Minnesota would be the second Wild Card team and qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2010.

The Twins have only hit 79 home runs as a team this season, but 20 of them have come from All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier. The 28-year-old is second in the American League in runs scored (70). While Dozier and first baseman Joe Mauer have been the key veterans on the team, the talk of the Twins is their young players, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano.

The Yankees will not see Buxton this week as the 21-year-old center fielder has been out since June 24 due to a thumb injury. However, Sano will be in the lineup. The 22-year-old designated hitter is hitting .286 with two home runs, has nine RBI’s, and has a .419 on-base percentage in 15 games.

The Twins’ rotation does not have an elite pitcher in it, but their starters have done a good job as a unit. Their 3.83 ERA is fourth in the American League this season. The best pitcher on Minnesota’s staff is starter Kyle Gibson (Sunday’s starter). Gibson leads the team in wins (8), strikeouts (84), and ERA (3.19).

In the bullpen, the Twins have struggled to find a bridge to their closer, Glen Perkins. Their relievers’ ERA of 3.87 is 11th in the AL and opponents have hit .258 against them. However, Perkins has been one of the best closers in the game this season. The 32-year-old is 29-for-30 in save chances and has a 1.37 ERA.

To talk more about the Twins, I spoke with Jamie Cameron, one of the staff writers at Puckett’s Pond. Jamie and I discussed Torii Hunter’s impact on the team, the buzz around the team in Minnesota, and what needs Minnesota will look to address at the trade deadline. Here are some of the other topics we discussed:

Early impressions of Buxton and Sano
Pitching Matchup Breakdown
Phil Hughes (tonight’s Twins starter) has given up 23 home runs this season
Michael Pineda (tonight’s Yankees starter) had 13 groundball outs against Seattle, but was hurt by two Robinson Cano home runs
Tommy Milone (tomorrow’s Twins starter) has given up two runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts.
CC Sabathia (tomorrow’s Yankees starter) a much better pitcher away from Yankee Stadium
Is Kyle Gibson one of the more underrated pitchers in the American League
Looking for Nathan Eovaldi (Sunday’s Yankees’ starter) to at least get into the seventh inning more often in his starts
Twins’ hitter to watch: third baseman Trevor Plouffe
Yankees’ hitters to watch: Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann
What’s been behind Glen Perkins’ great season so far?

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