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Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Twins-Yankees Preview (8/17-8/19)

ByRicky Keeler|

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off the show by talking about the New York Yankees (64-52) taking two out of three games against the Toronto Blue Jays this past weekend at the Rogers Centre. After the Blue Jays swept them a week ago, the Yankees picked up a big win on Friday night when Carlos Beltran hit a game winning three-run homer off of Aaron Sanchez in the top of the eighth.

Plus, the Yankees got some good pitching in the series with a complete game win by Masahiro Tanaka on Saturday. Even though Luis Severino did not win yesterday, he became the youngest pitcher in Yankee history to record nine strikeouts in a game. There could be more rotation help along the way as Michael Pineda made his first rehab start with the double-A Trenton Thunder yesterday (3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 42 pitches).

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After a 3-3 road trip has the Yankees up a half game on Toronto in the standings, the Bronx Bombers will begin a ten game homestand tonight when they take on the Minnesota Twins (59-58). The Yankees took two out of three games from the Twins at Target Field from July 24-26.

Even though Paul Molitor’s club is 9-18 since the All-Star Break, they remain only 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card spot in the American League. The problem for the Twins has been their pitching in general. As a team, Minnesota’s ERA after the All-Star Break is 5.33, which is the third highest ERA in the American League. Their starting rotation took a hit when Phil Hughes was placed on the disabled list due to a back injury last week.

Offensively, it hasn’t been much better for the Twins. Their total of 110 runs since the break is the third lowest in the AL, ahead of only the Rays and the A’s. That being said, a player to watch is 22-year old designated hitter Miguel Sano. Sano, who homered against the Yankees last month, has had five home runs and 17 RBI’s in his last 26 games. The 17 RBI’s is tied with third baseman Trevor Plouffe for the most RBI’s on the team since the break.

To learn more about the Twins and their recent struggles, I spoke with James Terry, who writes about the Twins for Baseball Essential. James and I discussed how the Twins are coming off winning back-to-back series and when some of their top prospects might come up to help the big league club’s push for a playoff spot. Here are some of the other topics we discussed:

Mindset of Twins’ fans since the last Yankees’ series
Takeaways from the Yankees winning 2 out of 3 games at Target Field
How has the Phil Hughes injury effected the starting rotation?
Pitching Matchup Breakdown
Kyle Gibson (tonight’s Twins starter) has not fared well against New York in his career
What to expect from Yankees’ starter Bryan Mitchell tonight
Mike Pelfrey (tomorrow’s Twins’ starter) has a 5.95 ERA in 11 road starts
CC Sabathia (tomorrow’s Yankees’ starter) had 14 groundball outs in his last outing vs. the Indians
Ervin Santana (Wednesday’s Twins’ starter) has given up a home run in five of his last eight starts
Nathan Eovaldi (Wednesday’s Yankees’ starter) has yet to lose a game at home or in the daytime this season
Twins’ Hitters To Watch: Miguel Sano and Brian Dozier
Yankees’ Hitters To Watch: Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann
The emergence of Eddie Rosario
When might fans see outfielder Byron Buxton and pitcher Jose Berrios with the big league club

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