Zebby Matthews had a rough start, to say the least. In the 1st, 3 singles and a sac fly put the Yankees up 2-0. In the 2nd, an RBI double by Austin Wells and a 2-run homer by Trent Grisham made it 5-1. A Giancarlo Stanton single then made it 6-1. In the 3rd, two sacrifice flies and a Ben Rice RBI double made it 9-1. That ended Zebby’s night at 3 innings, 11 hits, 9 runs (all earned), 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.
By the 5th inning, it was 10-1 Yankees and the game was pretty much over. That’s when the Twins
started clawing back. James Outman hit a 2-run homer, scoring his doppelganger, Ryan Fitzgerald. Byron Buxton followed with a walk, stole 2nd, then stole 3rd, and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 10-4 game.
In the bottom of the 6th, Matt Wallner doubled, then Mickey Gasper drove him in with a single. Then Ryan Fitzgerald hit a 2-run blast to right center to make it a 10-7 game. Suddenly, we have a ballgame. Later in that inning, Buxton doubled, then Austin Martin hit a bunt single. Trevor Larnach hit a deep fly ball to right, but it was unfortunately just a sac-fly RBI and not a game tying 3-run homer. Nevertheless, it still put the Twins down only 2 runs with 9 outs to go.
The Twins weren’t able to muster any baserunners in the 7th or 8th innings, while their bullpen did a great job keeping the game within reach. In the 9th, Larnach would hit a homer with 1 out, a solo shot to make it a 1-run game. But Kody Clemens then grounded out, and Royce Lewis struck out to end the epic comeback dream. Oh well.
Studs:
Trevor Larnach: 1-2, HR (17), 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
Ryan Fitzgerald: 2-4, HR (3), 2 RBI, 2 R
The Bullpen: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K
Duds:
Zebby Matthews: 3 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR
