Bombas go to Bronx, but they all come solo
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NEW YORK -- It was the year of the “Bombas” for the Twins, who set the all-time Major League record with 307 homers during the regular season. And they kept it going in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, homering three times in a postseason game for the first time in franchise history.
Shortstop Jorge Polanco homered in the first inning off lefty James Paxton while Nelson Cruz added an opposite-field shot to right field in the third inning, and Miguel Sanó took advantage of the short porch in right in the sixth. But it wasn’t enough in a 10-4 loss on Friday night at Yankee Stadium that saw the Twins’ postseason losing streak stretch to a record 14 games.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 4 | NYY 10, MIN 4 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 5 | NYY 8, MIN 2 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 7 | NYY 5, MIN 1 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: “We had some good swings. We had our moments,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Just by chance, there was no one on base when we popped a few balls over the fence. But, again, that's probably going to be at least part of the storyline on a regular basis this series.”
Polanco helped quiet the Yankee Stadium crowd, homering on a 1-1 fastball from Paxton after Mitch Garver struck out swinging to open the game. It got out in a hurry -- it had an exit velocity of 108.4 mph and went a Statcast-projected 396 feet to left field. It was his hardest-hit homer of his career, per Statcast, surpassing his previous high of 108.1 mph on April 16, 2019, off then-Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez. Polanco, 26, batted .295/.356/.485 this season while setting career highs in homers (22), RBIs (79) and games (153). But of those 22 blasts, only six came off a left-hander.
Paxton, though, struggled in the first inning this year, posting a 9.00 ERA with 29 runs allowed, including 12 homers, in 29 innings. After the homer, Paxton walked Cruz, but he avoided further damage by striking out Eddie Rosario and Sanó to end the inning.
“With the offense of our team, I just tried to limit the damage as much as I can against these guys,” Paxton said. “I knew we were going to score some runs.”
Cruz's home run in the third was his 17th in the postseason, second among active players to Albert Pujols' 19. It also gave the Twins multiple home runs for the first time in 15 ALDS games against the Yankees. The last time the Twins played the Yankees in the ALDS, they hit two homers in the entire series, a three-game New York sweep in 2010.
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Cruz, who led the Twins with 41 homers on the season, smacked a first-pitch fastball for a solo shot off Paxton, who gave up three runs over 4 2/3 frames.
"He's a tough one,” Cruz said. “Everything was working. The curveball/fastball combo was what he used the most."
After New York rallied to take the lead in the top of the fifth, Sanó hit a line drive off reliever Tommy Kahnle a projected 340 feet over the right-field wall, just out of the reach of a leaping Aaron Judge, for a solo shot to bring Minnesota within 5-4. It came on an 0-2 changeup from Kahnle -- the only homer that didn’t come on a fastball.
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It was clear that the Yankees were leaning heavily on their offspeed pitches throughout the night. Six of the seven New York pitchers threw more offspeed pitches than their season average, including Paxton, who threw more than double the number of non-fastballs he usually throws.
All told, 42.7 percent of the pitches the Twins saw were non-fastballs, which is expected to be a trend against Minnesota this series. The Twins feast on fastballs, so 43.4 percent of the pitches they saw this year were offspeed, which was the highest percentage in the Majors.
"It's the playoffs, so you're not going to get any cookies,” Cruz said. “They make you work and throw you tough pitches.”
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The Twins went 34-13 in the regular season when they hit at least three homers in a game, but with the bullpen’s struggles, it wasn’t enough this time. The Yankees, though, know Minnesota’s offense remains a challenge, so now it’s up to the Twins to limit New York’s similarly potent offense. The Yankees even used closer Aroldis Chapman in a six-run game in the ninth, because they know the Twins can score in a hurry because of their power.
“These guys have got a really good team,” Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez said. “They've had a really good year and a high-powered lineup. We've seen that they're capable of putting up runs in bunches in a hurry. Our pitchers did a good job tonight of holding them down.”