One of the things that wears on you in stretches like this is the recaps actually start to annoy you. Look, I get it, I’m a silly little baseball blogger, I’m not an ER nurse working a double shift or a teacher paying for their own Elmer’s glue while kids can no longer sound out unfamiliar words. My work here is reasonably low stakes. But my oh my are these games absolute drags to try and analyze. The Yankees lost again, badly, because the starter got set on fire and Camilo Doval cannot pitch at the major league level.
11-4 is your holiday final from the Bronx.
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For Brendan Beck, it was a hang with ‘em kind of day. Called up to make a spot start with Carlos Rodón moved to the IL yesterday, and it looked like Beck was never comfortable out there. He walked the first man he saw before Byron Buxton put the Twins on the board with a double, only for Kody Clemens to take Beck deep and before an out was recorded, the Yankees were down 3-0.
Minnesota added two more home runs in the second, including Alex Jackson’s first of the year, after the top three in the Yankee order went down smoothly to start their own day. Beck managed to get through the third without further damage, but the team was down 5-0 early. I’ll be honest in that my analysis is somewhat weak today as I was watching Canada put on a masterclass of a first half before fading in the second. Beck’s secondary offerings seem promising but his fastball seems awful flat for an MLB pitcher.
Jasson Domínguez gave us the first offensive sparks of the day, getting the Yankees’ first hit, then second hit and first run a couple innings later:
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The Twins are a good offensive team; their weakness is their pitching. As long as the Yankee bullpen could stop the bleeding, the offense was going to get chances to come back. Tim Hill allowed a solo shot of his own, but a big fifth inning put New York back in this one:
The Yankees had to pick between Max Schuemann and Spencer Jones to be the corresponding move for Beck’s recall, and ended up going with Max because of his versatility. For one day, the plan worked perfectly.
And we finally had an appearance by Cody Bellinger:
Belli has been a ghost the last ten days or so, and it shouldn’t be a surprise then that the lineup has also looked rather sleepy. Getting him going, especially as there’s no return of Aaron Judge in sight, is absolutely critical heading into this week’s series with the Rays.
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The next threat came in the sixth, as the Yankees were able to load the bases for leadoff hitter Trent Grisham. With a lefty on the hill, Aaron Boone elected to go to Paul Goldschmidt, who has hit southpaws well this year but was also 0-20 at the time. The gamble didn’t pay off with Goldy going down swinging, and Josh Bell tacking on a run with a solo shot immediately following in the top of the seventh.
I wanted to get mad at Camilo Doval but the first run he allowed in the eighth was unearned, the 24th such in the last 14 games. Jazz Chisholm Jr. misplayed the first ball of the frame, allowing Luke Keaschall to reach. Keaschall would come home a couple batters later thanks to Buxton’s sac fly. and Minnesota led 8-4. Fortunately for the true hater I am, Doval can always be relied upon to give up more runs, and Clemens brought in the Twins’ ninth run of the game on an RBI single, and then a second Josh Bell home run gave them 11. I dislike you Camilo Doval and I would like you to no longer be on the New York Yankees’ 26-man MLB roster.
You can’t give up six home runs and expect to win. I’m done talking about this team for 24 hours, it is a beautiful day in one of the world’s most beautiful cities and I am going outside. The Yankees can still win this series behind Ryan Weathers, but I’m not going to be super confident about it with Joe Ryan on the bump for Minnesota. Peacock gets the game tomorrow, with a 1:35pm first pitch.
