​Just once, I’d like to hold up a different finger to the Yankees. When a team that has historically turned into terrified toddlers at the very mention of one particular opponent goes 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, the odds aren’t favorable for a comeback. Inning-by-inning notes: I’m not certain about this, and I’m not going to check, but it feels like Klobberin’ Kody Clemens hits a homer every Friday now. Good for him! Though hitting one now means he can’t later (he has a quota) and he won’t be able to stave off the inevitable late-inning Yankee rally.
Or maybe not the late innings after all. Trent Grisham rips a solo shot to right. Interestingly, on both Clemens’s and Grisham’s homers, radio guy Kris Atteberry called them “pop ups” at first glance, so perhaps the press box sightlines at Yankee Stadium are a bit odd. Tied 1-12: Royce Lewis leads off with a double, and the Twins follow the sabermetric playbook to the letter, showing no inclination to move him over or get him in. Why waste a bunt with sluggers like Victor Caratini and Tristan Gray due up? A 1-2-3 inning for rookie Mike Paredes. I’m sure Derek Shelton delivered the standard line to the media about not caring about the Twins’ sad history against the Yankees, that the players are different now and he doesn’t chase curses. I’ve heard it from Gardy, Molitor, and Rocco, and they all still got swept by the Yankees. It’s a fact of life, like ear hair increasing with age.
A 1-2-3 for Gerrit Cole, followed by a rain delay. “Other” radio guy Dan Gladden chats with former player Terry Pendleton, who was with St. Louis when they beat the Twins in the 1987 World Series and with Atlanta when they beat the Twins in 1991. Pendleton has been on three other losing teams in World Series, too; St. Louis in 1985, Atlanta in ’92, and ’96. It looks like Pendleton might be cursed. Not as cursed as the Twins against the Yankees, though. An hour later, Trent Grisham hits a two-out grounder that bounces off third base, and Ben Rice lofts a fly ball that bounces off the hands of a fan trying to catch it in the outfield seats. Then Jasson Domínguez singles and swipes second, Cody Bellinger walks, and the Yankees bring up Paul Goldschmidt, their best non-Judge hitter. He lines out, but Paredes has already thrown a lot of pitches that inning. Yankees 3-1: Clemens hits a leadoff double. Do you think the Twins will move him over this time? Sorry, but no team does that anymore. It doesn’t matter, because slugger Victor Caratini (.711 OPS) delivers the two-out RBI. Paredes sits at 81 pitches, plus the rain delay. Done? For now, anyway, as the Yankees reignite the rally. A one-out double for Luke Keaschall, but no Caratini to save the inning here. Cole remains at 88 pitches. Time for Derek’s Magical Arm Ba.