The Yankees and Twins open a three-game series Monday night at Target Field, with first pitch set for 7:40 p.m. ET.
New York comes in at 86-63, while Minnesota sits at 70-79. The game will be carried on 830 WCCO, and the matchup features a pair of right-handers on the mound: Will Warren for the Yankees and Dean Kremer for the Twins.
Warren has made 27 starts this season and is 10-6 with a 4.05 ERA, a 1.363 WHIP and 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Kremer has worked 14 starts, going 3-5 with a 5.65 ERA, a 1.298 WHIP and 8.7 strikeouts per nine.
The Yankees arrive with one of baseball’s biggest power bats, ranking second in the majors with 204 home runs. Minnesota has hit 174, good for 13th. At the plate, New York is batting .235, which ranks 25th, while the Twins are hitting .244, placing them 15th.
Run production has been a different story for each club. The Yankees are 12th in the league with 677 runs scored, or 4.5 per game. Minnesota has actually pushed across 683 runs, putting the Twins ninth in MLB.
Among the Yankees’ top hitters, Ben Rice has appeared in 142 games and is hitting .260 with a .356 on-base percentage and .528 slugging percentage, along with 38 homers and 90 RBI. Luis Garcia has played 138 games and owns a .289/.320/.551 line with 30 home runs and 91 RBI. Cody Bellinger has 15 homers and 69 RBI, while Paul Goldschmidt has 18 home runs and Jose Caballero has 13.
For Minnesota, Brooks Lee has 23 home runs and 79 RBI, Josh Bell has 19 homers and 86 RBI, and Kody Clemens has added 26 home runs. Luke Keaschall is hitting .273 with a .365 on-base percentage, and Trevor Larnach has 13 home runs and 48 RBI.
The series continues Tuesday and Wednesday in Minneapolis before both teams head into the next stretch of their schedules. The Yankees are set for three games at Arizona after this trip, while the Twins will follow the Yankees series with three games at the Angels.
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For Minnesota, the bigger takeaway was how the game kept opening new lanes for a club that has been looking for different ways to win. Rodriguez finished with a hit, a run, an RBI, a home run and an assist, while the bullpen did enough to protect the lead the offense had built. The debut was memorable on its own, but it also hinted at how quickly a new face can alter the look of a lineup when the Twins need one more spark. [Read more 🡒]
