Due for a Clunker, Yankees Produce One

The Yankees had won 7 in a row, and hadn't had a really bad game since a 5-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox in the 2nd game of the May 22 doubleheader. And Nestor Cortes had been putting up numbers that were making people compare him to Ron Guidry in 1978.

I guess both Cortes and the team as a whole were due for a clunker. And better that it happened in the middle of a roadtrip, against a team we don't particularly hate, like the Minnesota Twins, than in a bigger game against a Division opponent, including, God forbid, the Boston Red Sox.

This time, Cortes was fine for the 1st 3 innings, but allowed 2 runs in the 4th, and didn't get out of the 5th. Clarke Schmidt was no better, allowing 2 runs in the 6th. Same with Manny Banuelos, who allowed 2 in the 8th.

The Yankees bats got quiet, too: The only Yankee hits were an infield single by Aaron Hicks and a double by Josh Donaldson in the 5th, followed by a sacrifice fly by DJ LeMahieu for the only Yankee run; a single by Hicks in the 7th, and a single by Donaldson in the 9th.

Twins 8, Yankees 1. WP: Chris Archer (1-2). No save. LP: Cortes (5-2). The Yankees are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and 7 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The series concludes tonight. Gerrit Cole starts against former Baltimore Oriole pitcher Dylan Bundy. Then the Yankees come home to face the Chicago Cubs in an Interleague series.