Last night in Minnesota, the New York Yankees entered a second game against the twins after taking game one 8-4. They hoped with Yankee ace Gerrit Cole on the mound; they could take the series from the Twins. At the end of the night, they got the 9-6 win, but it wasn’t always pretty. The Yankees hit four home runs in the game.
Cole made a statement while under allegations
New York Yankee ace Gerrit Cole took the mound in Minneapolis last night after being accused of using stick stuff to aid his spin rate and get out more batters. The allegations came from the Twins’ own Josh Donaldson, who talked about pitchers using pitching aids and particularly named Cole in that conversation.
Cole let his pitching do the speaking for him. When Donaldson came up second in the lineup, Cole swiftly struck him out. Donaldson struck out for the second time against Cole. In the sixth inning, still facing Cole, Donaldson flew out to right field. Although Cole said nothing but the obvious stare in at Donaldson each time he stuck out spoke volumes. Donaldson ended up the night going 0 for 5.
Cole seemed more comfortable on the mound last night. He went six innings using 94 pitches, 66 of them strikes. He gave up five hits, two earned runs, striking out 9 Twins hitters, and walking no one.
The win wasn’t the prettiest this season, even though they scored 9 runs. The usually solid Yankee bullpen again faltered in the game. However, Luis Cessa did his job pitching two scoreless innings in relief of Gerrit Cole. With the Yankees ahead 9 to 2 in the ninth, Brooks Kriske took over for Cessa and allowed four earned runs to finish off the game.
Yankee hitting comes alive big time
The Yankee hitting that has often been lacking in most games came alive for the second night in a row. The Yankees got 15 hits in the game, four of them home runs. It was the first time this season that the Yankees got double-digit hits three games in a row.
Giancarlo Stanton was last night’s MVP hitting two long balls in the game. Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar also homered in the game. It was the tenth time that both Stanton and Judge homered in the same game. Stanton and Judge also doubled in the game. Brett Gardner and Rougie Odor also had extra-base hits. Meanwhile, DJ LeMahieu had another unproductive night going 0 for 4.
Giancarlo Stanton heating up again
At the beginning of the season, the hottest hitter was Giancarlo Stanton; then, he injured his quad. He was out for 13 games. Upon his return, it appeared that Stanton had lost his timing. Manager Aaron Boone was easing him back into the lineup, causing him to miss every other game.
But, now in his last two games in a row, it seems his magic is back. He had two hits on Tuesday and exploded last night with two home runs and a single driving in five runs. It speaks well of the Yankee hitting when Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are together. Even with his time in the IL, Stanton has a .267 batting average with 11 home runs and 29 driving in.