New York Yankees Fail to Finish Sweep, Fall Back Below .500

The New York Yankees could not complete a four game sweep of the Minnesota Twins Sunday afternoon, dropping the series finale 7-4.

The Yankees once again fell below .500 with the loss, which is familiar territory at this point. Every time this team looks ready to turn it around this season, they ultimately disappoint. They raised hopes Sunday by getting off to an 2-0 early lead on a solo homer by Brian McCann in the second inning and an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez in the fourth, scoring Brett Gardner after his leadoff double.

McCann was one of the few bright spots on the day, going 3-for-4 with two HR. Before Sunday’s game, Mac had a .114/.279/.229 slash line (40 wRC+) in 43 June plate appearances. Hopefully his big day is a sign he’s emerging from his funk. The first homer off of Ervin Santana came on a meatball down the middle, but sometimes you need those to break out of a slump. His second longball didn’t come until the ninth when the game was already more or less finished, but it’s still nice to see McCann’s bat waking up.

After an electric start to the season, Yankees starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi now has a 9.00 ERA in the month of June. This is largely due to the six HR he’s allowed in 20 innings through those four starts. He did look OK through his first five innings of work Sunday, with a solo shot to Max Kepler that barely cleared the right field wall the only damage he allowed in the early going.

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Things turned into a mess in the sixth inning, with Eovaldi giving up four runs on five hits. Eduardo Escobar followed up a pair of singles by Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe with a bloop over Ike Davis’s head that bounced up the right field line. Both runs scored on what was ultimately a triple for Escobar, giving Minnesota a 3-2 lead and ending Eovaldi’s day. Plouffe was initially called out, but the call was overturned on appeal. Dellin Betances then came in to put out the fire, but Max Kepler proceeded to knock in Escobar, steal second, and score on a double by Kurt Suzuki, extending the Twins lead to 4-2.

The two teams traded blows for the remaining few innings, but the Yankees couldn’t mount a successful rally. Consecutive errors by Twins reliever Taylor Rogers and Trevor Plouffe allowed Ike Davis to score in the eighth and McCann had his second homer in the ninth, but New York relievers Kirby Yates and Nick Goody gave those runs right back, allowing Minnesota to walk away with a 7-4 victory.

Following Monday’s off-day, the Colorado Rockies are coming to Yankee Stadium for a two game series. Ivan Nova will take the mound Tuesday against Colorado’s Chad Bettis at 7:05 pm ET.