Yankees first baseman Luke Voit had this to say after making his return off the IL this past week. “"I was top-10 in MVP last year, and I've been a great player for this organization for the last three years. I'm not going down, I want play. I know it's gonna be tougher with Rizzo, but I deserve to play just as much as he does." Well, not only has he been given more opportunities (Albeit as the DH now), Voit backed up the talk by going seven for 13 with eight RBIs, pacing a Bombers offense that put up 24 runs in their three game demolition (7-5, 10-2, 7-1) over the previously surging Twins, running their current winning streak up to nine games.
While the offense stole the show, New York’s pitching was superb as, Jamison Tallion Nestor Cortes JR, and Gerrit Cole stymied a Twins squad that entered the Bronx winners in nine of their past 13 games.
So how did the Yankees throw ice on their fire while keeping their own from being extinguished? Let’s get into it.
GAME 1: TWINS 5 YANKEES 7
Some in the media looked at this opener as a “Trap game” with the Yankees having come off the emotional high of sweeping the rival Red Sox, and about to embark on a road trip against potential playoff teams. But as they’ve done so well this past week, the Bombers silenced those doubts quickly, by putting up runs early and often. The “squid” in Andrew Velasquez continued his pinstriped rise to fame, with a triple, before an RBI double by Kyle Higashioka put the Yankees on the board first. After a Tyler Wade walk, Luke Voit quickly made his presence felt with a two run-triple, before an Anthony Rizzo sac fly capped off a four run frame for the Bombers. Higashioka would contribute to the offense once more in the fourth by going deep to extend the Yankees advantage to 6-0, as the sellout crowd started to get greedy now ready for the “Rout runs” to start pouring in. They almost got their wish later in inning, but a diving catch by ex-Bomber Jake Cave off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton saved two runs keeping the affair somewhat close.
Meanwhile, starter Jamison Tallion had “Every pitch working” for the the first few innings of his outing, but ran into trouble in the sixth inning, as a Cave bomb, and a two run RBI double by the red-hot Jorge Polanco cut the deficit in half, knocking Jamo out of the game who has now gone 14 straight starts without a loss. First out of the bullpen carousal for New York was Wandy Peralta, who continued his stretch of effective pitching by going 1.2 scoreless frames to stabilize the ammo the Twins had coming at them. Against Zack Britton in the eight, Minnesota made it interesting with Polanski nothing an RBI single, but a strikeout of slugger Josh Donaldson preserved the 6-4 Yankees lead. Giancarlo Stanton muscled into the seats for a solo shot that gave the Yankees and insurance run, only to be matched by a Miguel Sano bomb in the top of the ninth, making it a two run game again. However, Chad Green would shut the door to seal a seventh straight Yankees victory,their 70th win of the year, and their MLB-leading 46th by two runs or less.
GAME 2: TWINS 2 YANKEES 10
The members of Yankees universe has rarely been able to erupt at dynamic performances this season due to injuries and how this season began for these 2021 Yankees. But on Friday night, the fans let the team hear it, with Luke Voit leading the way by slugging to a 4 for 5 nigh, with four RBIs, while Nestor Cortes JR once again anchored the team on the other side of the ball to the tune of seven innings of two run ball, as the Yankees mashed their way to a 10-2 drubbing of the Twins on Friday night in the Bronx.
Similar to what they did on Thursday, the Yankees offense jumped on Twins pitching right out of the gate, with Luke Voit singling in home two runs, before an Andrew Velasquez RBI walk later in the inning as a result of the plate discipline the team was opposing showing starter Charlie Burns, set up a Brett Gardner RBI single increasing the the quota to four runs after one inning of play for the Bronx Bombers. In the bottom of the second, Aaron Judge upped his on-base streak to 14 games, by driving one out to the short-porch in right field for an oppo-taco blast that extended the Yankees lead to 6-0. In the fourth, more “Luuuuuuke” chance would ring out from the New York faithful, as Luke Voit would wack a one-hopper into the bullpen for a ground-rule double putting the Yankees up by a touchdown, and an extra point at 7-0. As for the pitching, that was taken care of by the prompt rise of Nestor Cortes JR, who since being thrust into the starting rotation back on July 4th, hasn’t yet lost in seven starts, and has a 2.73 ERA when pitching in that role in just 36.2 innings. On the season “Nasty Nestor” has a 2.56 ERA, and has been one of the key & components to this sudden Yankees turnaround. On this night, the only glaring mistake through seven brilliant innings was the pitch he gave to Josh Donaldson who turned on it for a two run shot in the sixth for the Twins only runs of the contest. In the bottom of the seventh, Voit capped off his historic evening with another solo homer in the seventh, before DJ LeMahieu put the cherry on top of this one by going deep on his own bobblehead night, as the two run jack down the line, brought the Bombers to “Double digits” land, putting a stamp on a 10-2 victory.
GAME 3: TWINS 1 YANKEES 7
Gerrit Cole(12-6, 2.92 ERA) placed himself back into the CY Young race with six brilliant scoreless frames, while the Yankees bats tee’d off on the Minnesota bullpen for their ninth straight win, and 16th in their past 19 games, completing their second straight series sweep of the week 7-1 over once again hapless Twins.
Runs were at a premium early with both aces toeing the slab for their respective teams, as Kenta Maeda went for the visitors against Gerrit Cole of the Bombers. Through the first four frames, the only hit separating the two, was an RBI single from the Yankees #9 hitter in Tyler Wade, whose knock made it 1-0 in the third. Things got dicy in the fifth inning, as the Twins loaded the bases for their star in Josh Donaldson, but Gerrit would execute a perfect 2-2 91MPH fastball at the knees, electrifying the raucous Yankee crowd, and more importantly keeping the Minneapolis offense at bay. That proved to be as close as they got to getting in the win column in NYC, as the Bombers bats blew the games wide open in the bottom of half of that inning. A one out double by Tyler Wade, a single by DJ LeMahieu, and an HBP to Anthony Rizzo loaded the bases for Aaron Judge who saw a Maeda wild pitch gift his team another run. Kenta would then leave to game due to “Forearm tightness”, and it was right, then, and there the Yankees coasted to another sweep. Judge walked, and then Giancarlo Stanton began the merry-go round with a two-run double that stretched the hosts advantage to 4-0., before the red-hot Luke Voit drove home two more, putting the game out of reach.
Leading 6-1 in the bottom of the eight, Andrew Velasquez didn’t necessarily need a hit in this situation, but said a fan was yelling at him to try for his first career HR, and then he actually when up and did it. Velasquez lined one down the right field line for a solo shot that ignited the already fever-pitch daytime crowd, for his first career HR, making his presence felt in the Yankees 7-1 thumping of Minnesota.
The win completes a 7-0 home stand for the sizzling Yanks, who are now on a nine game win streak.
SERIES MVP: LUKE VOIT
STAT SO?
The Yankees are now:
•On a nine game win streak
•Have been victorious in 12 of their past 13 series(Eight straight)
• Are 16-3 in their past 19 games
• Are 26-9 since the All-Star break
•Are 31-11 since that July 4 game when they dropped to 41-41 with a loss to the mets. Now they’re record is 72-52
•Are 19-4 since the trade deadline.
•Have gained 13 games on Boston IN the past 3 weeks, and have a three game lead over them right now in the Wildcard standings.
•Have gained a game on the Tampa Bay Rays(77-48) this weekend, who dropped one of three to the White Sox. The deficit has been sliced from eight games down to four.
The Yankees also became the first team in baseball history this week to win six games against four different teams (CWS, LAA, BOS, MIN), over a span of five days (Sunday-Thursday).(Per @StatsbyStats) on Twitter.
AL WILD CARD STANDINGS(Top two teams get in):
1. NEW YORK YANKEES 72-52
2. OAKLAND ATHLETICS 70-55
3. BOSTON RED SOX 70-55
4. SEATTLE MARINERS 67-58
5. TORONTO BLUE JAYS 64-58
MILESTONE MONDAY:
Congratulations to Detroit Tigers slugger, and a no-doubt future hall of fame player Miguel Cabrera, who knocked one out of the park for the 500th time in his career on Sunday, in the Tigers 5-3 11 inning win over the Blue Jays.
While Miguel is the 28th member to join the exclusive club, he is the first Venezuelan born player, and first Tiger to accomplish that feat.
UP NEXT:
The Yankees aren’t the only feeling themselves right now as across the way, the first-place Atlanta Braves(68-56) have won nine straight themselves, and will put that to the test against the mighty Bombers in a mini-two game series that begins Monday night at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Both games will begin at 7:20PM ET, with all of the baseball world sure to have eyes on its two hottest teams at the moment.
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