Yankees: Main Takeaways from 12-6 demolition of Twins

anthony volpe, yankees
Apr 22, 2023; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) celebrates with center fielder Aaron Judge (99) after hitting a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees had their best offensive day of the season, as they scored 12 runs against Minnesota. The lineup was clicking all day, and the bottom third even got it rolling. It was the dream breakout that we had been waiting for, and hopefully, that sparks them for the next few games to be productive. German had a typical German day, but when you score 12 runs, it’s livable. 

The Yankees’ offense carried them:

Domingo came out and looked pretty solid up until the boys took a 10-run lead. From there, he got careless and proceeded to crumble over the final few innings of his afternoon. He finished with 6.0 total innings of work, gave up 6 runs, and struck out 8 batters. It was the classic German game, but fortunately, it didn’t come back to bite us. 

After German left in the 7th following a leadoff triple, Ian Hamilton came in and continued to put together a very nice season in relief. He tossed two shutout innings, struck out a pair, and lowered his season ERA to 1.84. Hamilton has been a great addition to the bullpen, and hopefully, he keeps up the solid work. It’s always spotty with bullpen arms, but he’s been great. After him, Clay Holmes followed up with a quick shutout frame of his own.

The lineup batted around all afternoon:

The offense had their best game of the year, and it came when they needed it most. Though they didn’t win the series, seeing them fight against the sweep was nice. The scoring got started when the Yanks slapped around Maeda and tagged him for 5 in the 2nd inning. Gleyber Torres had himself a fantastic afternoon and smacked a home run and a base knock whilst also playing exceptional defense at second. 

Judge had a memorable birthday game, smacking two doubles, a base hit, and working a walk. He also had an awkward slide into third earlier in the day but returned and seemed to be just fine. Willie Calhoun put together a nice two-hit afternoon and has now tossed back-to-back two-hit games. Maybe he’s starting to find his swing, which is the best time, as this offense needs all the help it can get. 

Oswaldo worked a walk today, which was only his third of the year, so hopefully, that means he’s starting to see the ball better. He also added a base hit, as every guy in the bottom third got on base today. IKF had a gorgeous bunt earlier in the afternoon but then went 0-4 with two strikeouts the rest of the game. He hasn’t been great this year, but I don’t believe he’ll be on this squad come the second half of the season. 

This game was more like the Yankees of last season’s hot start, but I do believe the Yanks can build on this going forward. Gerrit Cole is on the bump tomorrow night as the Yanks head to Texas. Hopefully, they’ll start this series off with a dub or at least another good offensive showing.

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