*Photo from the Pioneer Press*
The Minnesota Twins were not supposed to win this baseball game. Down 5-3 entering the 9th and dominant closer Aroldis Chapman on to pitch for the New York Yankees, it looked like another loss for a team in the midst of a downswing of a season. Baseball has been known to surprise people. Josh Donaldson hit the tying homer, Nelson Cruz hit the winning homer, and the Twins defeated the Yankees 7-5 on Thursday night.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said "It was one after the other of just hard, hard contact and really going up there, too, without any fear. Not going up there, taking pitches, seeing what he’s going to do. Our guys went up there ready to hit and hit balls hard."
Josh Donaldson scored on a first inning sac fly from Cruz, which made it 3-1 Yankees at the time. In the 4th, an RBI double from Andrelton Simmons made it 3-2. In the 7th, Cruz hit an RBI double to left field, making it a 5-3 Yankees lead. In the 9th, Donaldson hit a two run homer to tie the game, and a few batters later, Cruz hit a two run homer to walk off the Yankees.
Hansel Robles got the win for Minnesota, improving to 2-2 this season. Robles worked a scoreless 9th for the win. Former Yankee JA Happ got the start for the Twins, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and one walk, getting two strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. Tyler Duffey was charged with the other run, which came across in the 6th inning. Jorge Alcala and Luke Farrell also pitched.
When asked if this win would provide a spark in the locker room, Happ said "We certainly hope so. We don't talk about it too much amongst ourselves, because it's not a fun conversation to have, just how injured or beat up or however you want to say it we are. We're trying to just show up and try to grind every day. Again, I felt like we were in the game and we had a chance there. And today, we came up huge."
Chapman blew the save and got the loss for the Yankees, not recording a single out in his appearance, his second blown save in his last 14 attempts. Michael King threw 3 2/3 innings in his start, allowing two runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3 hitters. Lucas Luetge, Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Chad Green also pitched.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Chapman's blown save that "He started out with a couple sliders, clearly missed his spots on a couple. A lot of times when he has those outings, usually he’ll find the velocity within the course of the outing."
The Twins start a series with the Astros on Friday night, with Matt Shoemaker starting. Jameson Taillon starts on Saturday for the Yankees, against the Phillies after a day off on Friday.
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