Twins at Yankees
The Minnesota Twins have had a wretched history in the Bronx in this century but finally earned a rare victory at Yankee Stadium by playing to their strengths. After ending a nine-game road losing streak to the New York Yankees (playoffs included), Minnesota has a chance to earn a series victory in the finale of a three-game set on Sunday afternoon.
Mitch Garver balted a home run among three hits and Nelson Cruz went deep for the second straight game as the Twins posted only their 15th win in 56 games at Yankee Stadium dating to 2002. Minnesota's Michael Pineda, who spent his previous four seasons with New York, will oppose fellow right-hander Domingo Germán in the series finale, which will start three hours later at 4:05 p.m. due to heavy rain in the forecast. Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who homered twice Friday, left the yard again Saturday for his fifth blast in eight games since returning from the disabled list. Third baseman Miguel Andujar committed a pair of errors and was 1-for-2 in his first game since injuring his shoulder on March 31 as New York lost for the fourth time in 14 games.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS North (Minnesota), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Michael Pineda (2-2, 6.21 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Domingo Germán (5-1, 2.56)
Pineda opened the season with three straight solid outings, including victories over Philadelphia and Detroit, but he has regressed over his last three turns, including back-to-back starts against Houston. He was tagged for five runs on nine hits over five innings last time out and has been charged with 15 runs and 24 hits over 14 innings in the past three outings. Cameron Maybin is 5-for-16 against Pineda, who made his lone start against New York as a rookie in 2011.
German worked at least six innings for the fourth consecutive start, holding on for the victory after giving up four runs and five hits to beat San Francisco last time out. The 26-year-old Dominican also won his previous turn with a superb performance against the Los Angeles Angels, tossing a season-high 6 2/3 innings and permitting an unearned run on four hits. Cruz has a home run in three at-bats off German, who had made a pair of relief appearances against the Twins.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees 1B Luke Voit had his 42-game on-base streak snapped in Saturday's loss.
2. Twins 1B C.J. Cron also homered in the team's first win at Yankee Stadium since June 26, 2016.
3. Yankees LH James Paxton was placed on the 10-day injured list due to left knee inflammation.