Yankees Take 2 of 3 From Twins, But It's Unsatisfying

For the Yankees, the Minnesota Twins are frequently a cure for what ails them. This time, they were a decent treatment, but not a full cure.

A series between the teams began on Monday night, at Yankee Stadium II. Will Warren started, and pitched very well into the 7th inning. Home runs were hit by Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm. The Yankees won, 6-2.

Carlos Rodón started on Tuesday night, and it looked like it would be one of those nights. He began the game by giving up a single to Austin Martin. He walked Byron Buxton. He hit Ryan Jeffers with a pitch, to load the bases with nobody out.

But, just as quickly, he turned it around: He struck Luke Keaschall out, got Royce Lewis to ground into a force play that scored Martin, and struck Kody Clemens (Roger's son) out. Getting out of that jam with just 1 run was a relief. He was brilliant after that, allowing just 1 more baserunner, a walk, through the 7th inning.

Stanton hit his 441st career home run. Aaron Judge hit his 353rd -- or 100 more than Pete Alonso, who, the same night, became the Mets' all-time leader. Anthony Volpe also hit a home run. The Yankees won, 9-1.

But last night's game was typical of the Yankees' post-2009 failures. Rookie Cam Schlittler was fine for 5 innings: 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. He had thrown 86 pitches, hardly too many. He should have been left in the game. But  Aaron Boone -- possibly on orders from Brian Cashman -- took him out.

And Yerry De los Santos began the top of the 6th by giving up a single to Buxton, a single to Keaschall, and a double to Clemens. Having reached the 3-batter minimum, he was removed for Mark Leiter Jr. He got a couple of popups, then allowed a double to Royce Lewis, to make it 4-1 Twins.

That turned out to be the final score, because the Yankees only got 7 baserunners: A home run by Cody Bellinger; a double by Volpe; singles by Stanton, Rice and Trent Grisham; and walks by Bellinger and Ryan McMahon. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

I can't really be upset for taking 2 out of 3 in a home series. But they should have put up more of an effort last night. As occasionally happens with the Yankees, taking 2 out of 3 ended up being unsatisfying.

With 41 games left in the regular season, the Yankees are 6 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division. If the current AL standings hold to the rest of the season, they will be the 6th and final seed. And you do not want to be the 6th and final seed.

The Yankees have today off, and start a roadtrip this weekend: 3 in St. Louis, then a day off, then 2 in Tampa, before coming home to face the Boston Red Scum.