The Yankees and Twins meet at Target Field on Wednesday, Sept. 16, with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET.
New York enters at 87-63, while Minnesota sits at 70-80. For fans looking to follow along, the game can be watched on Fubo, and the radio call is on 830 WCCO.
On the mound, the Yankees are set to start Carlos Rodon, a left-hander who has made 14 starts and is 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA. He’s been working 5.0 innings per start on average, with a 1.123 WHIP and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
Minnesota will counter with Zebby Matthews, a right-hander who has 21 starts, a 9-10 record and a 4.98 ERA. He’s averaging 5.2 innings per start, with a 1.274 WHIP and 7.5 strikeouts per nine.
The Yankees bring plenty of power into the matchup. Their 207 home runs are second-best in MLB, and they’re averaging 4.6 runs per game, good for 10th in the majors with 685 total runs. Their .235 batting average ranks 25th.
The Twins have also done damage at the plate in their own way. Their 175 home runs rank 13th in MLB, their .243 batting average is 16th, and their 686 runs are the ninth-most in the league.
For New York, Ben Rice has been one of the biggest bats in the lineup, hitting .263 with 38 home runs and 92 RBI across 143 games. Luis Garcia has added 30 homers and 91 RBI, while Cody Bellinger has chipped in 15 home runs and 69 RBI. Jose Caballero and Paul Goldschmidt round out a group with solid production as well.
Minnesota’s key hitters include Brooks Lee, who has 23 home runs and 79 RBI, and Josh Bell, who has driven in 87 runs with 20 homers. Kody Clemens has supplied 26 home runs, while Luke Keaschall and Trevor Larnach have each contributed across more than 100 games.
After Wednesday’s game, the Yankees head to Arizona for a three-game series against the Diamondbacks, beginning Sept. 18.
The Twins move on to a road trip that takes them to the Angels for four straight games starting Sept. 17, then on to the Giants on Sept. 21.
In Other News...
Walker Jenkins Just Showed Why Twins Fans Should Still Believe
Walker Jenkins keeps giving Twins fans reasons to look past the standings and focus on what might be coming next. The clubs top prospect, called up Aug. 28 and ranked No. 14 overall in baseball, delivered one of the biggest swings of the night at Angel Stadium when he turned on a 100.9 mph fastball from Angels reliever Ben Joyce and drove a two-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning. He added three hits on the night, a strong showing for a player still finding his footing in the majors.
The Twins still came up short in a 5-4 extra-inning loss, but Jenkins response mattered more than the final score in the long view. After a difficult start to his Major League career, he showed the kind of calm and competitiveness that teams want to see from a young hitter under pressure, and the performance only added to the sense that Minnesota may already have a cornerstone in the making. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Turn Wild Comeback Night Into Another Brutal Late Collapse
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Minnesota still walked away with the wrong kind of familiar ending, though, as the Angels finished it with a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth. For a Twins club trying to turn a difficult night into something salvageable, the frustration is in how close it came to being a statement comeback, only to become another late collapse with another game still to come in the same series the next day. [Read more 🡒]
Rod Carew Just Gave These Twins Players Something Few Ever Get
Rod Carew made a familiar sight feel special again before the Twins opened their series against the Angels, showing up in uniform and spending time around batting practice and pregame meetings. For a clubhouse that has leaned on veteran voices all season, having a Hall of Famer like Carew in the room carried a different kind of weight, one rooted in the standards and history that still hang around the franchise.
Manager Derek Shelton and players such as Taylor Rogers and Ryan Jeffers welcomed the chance to be around him and pick up whatever they could from his experience. Carew means something on both sides of this matchup, with his number retired by the Twins and the Angels, and his presence offered a reminder that some baseball lessons go beyond the box score, even if the full impact of the visit is still more felt than measured. [Read more 🡒]