Yanks Drop Finale vs. Twins, Face Showdown With Rays

Ordinarily, the Yankees dropping the last game of a series after winning the 1st 3 wouldn't be a big deal. Especially against the Minnesota Twins, not a Division rival, or one for the top Playoff spot in the American League. But, at this point, they need all the wins they can get. And last night's game was lost in a way we have seen all too often these last 13 years of failure.

Nestor Cortes made his return from the Injured List. The organization didn't want to overdo it with him, so they only let him go into the 5th inning, throwing 58 pitches, although 41 of them were for strikes. He allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, and no walks.

But it does seem to be a frequent occurrence that former Yankees come back to play well against them. Last night, it was Sonny Gray's turn. Gray did not do well with the Yankees, but allowed just 2 runs in 6 innings, the runs coming on a home run by Miguel Andújar.

Clarke Schmidt finished the 5th inning, and kept it 2-2 through the 6th and the 7th. Aaron Boone sent Wandy Peralta to pitch the 8th, and hurt himself by making an error. Boone panicked, and took Peralta out after the minimum 3 batters. He brought in Greg Weissert, who may be the poster child for fans who say that, for a pitcher, wins and losses are a meaningless stat. The 1st batter he faced was former Houston Astro cheater Carlos Correa, who hit a home run off him to make it 4-2 Minnesota. Although Weissert now has a 1.174 WHIP to go with his 3-0 record, he also has an 8.22 ERA.

Aaron Judge led off the bottom of the 8th with a double. Gleyber Torres drew a walk. The Yankees were in business. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded into a forceout: He was safe at 1st, Torres was out at 2nd, and Judge was safe at 3rd. IKF stole 2nd. But Marwin González struck out. Andújar drew a walk, and ball 4 was a wild pitch, scoring Judge. But Giancarlo Stanton, clearly not ready to come back from injury, struck out.

Since the 2009 World Series win, there have been so many Yankee games lost due to managers Boone and Joe Girardi messing up the bullpen, or to key players being injured, or to key players coming back from injury too soon, or (as with last night) to some combination thereof.

Ryan Weber got into a little trouble in the top of the 9th, but worked out of it. In the bottom of the 9th, Jose Trevino grounded to 3rd. Oswald Peraza singled to left. Aaron Hicks doubled to right, but Peraza had to hold at 3rd: Had he tried to score the winning run, he would have been out at the plate. With 1st base open, Judge was intentionally walked. Torres struck out, and IKF grounded to 2nd.

Twins 4, Yankees 3. WP: Griffin Jax (6-3). SV: Michael Fulmer (3). LP: Peralta (2-4: He put the 3rd run on base, although it was Weissert who allowed him to score).

This loss drops the Yankees to 4 1/2 games ahead of the Tamp Bay Rays in the American League East, but only 3 in the loss column. And 5 1/2 behind the Astros, 6 in the loss column, for best record in the AL.

Tonight, the Rays come into Yankee Stadium for a huge series. Here's the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 7:05, on Amazon Prime Video: Frankie Montas vs. Drew Rasmussen.

* Tomorrow, 1:05, on YES: Jameson Taillon vs. Corey Kluber.

* Sunday, 1:35, on YES: Neither team has yet announced a starter.