Twins seek bit of spark
Yankees hold upper hand on Minnesota this season
NEW YORK – Remember the Minnesota Twins’ super-hot momentum, that unseen force that carried them through a 17-4 stretch run and through Tuesday’s one-game tiebreaker win over the Detroit Tigers?
Yeah, that’s gone now. What looked like a team riding high into the postseason ended up looking like a tired crew after the New York Yankees’ 7-2 ALDS Game 1 win Wednesday.
So other than manager Ron Gardenhire and a few players required for media sessions, the Twins were free from baseball duty on Thursday for the first time in a while.
“It’s been a long week for us,” center fielder Denard Span said. “It’s no excuse or saying we were tired or anything. Nobody was tired (Wednesday). It’s just to kind of regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”
Instead of banking on their delirious run through September as they erased a seven-game A.L. Central deficit to the Tigers, the Twins seemed to channel their 0-for-7 season series with the Yankees.
When they were swept in four games at Yankee Stadium from May 15-18, including three straight walk-off losses, the Twins were 4 for 38 (.105) with runners in scoring position and left 46 men on base, losing the four games by a total of five runs.
On Wednesday, the Twins were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on. Span doubled off CC Sabathia to open the game, but Orlando Cabrera and Joe Mauer struck out and Michael Cuddyer flied to center. That set the tone, even after the Twins took a brief 2-0 lead.
“We have had our opportunities,” Gardenhire said. “We’ve been close. When we were here earlier in the year, we could have won every one of those games with one big hit. I wish I had all the answers to say this is why we lose here, this is why we don’t win. It’s not that simple.”
Span was asked if there’s a bit of the dark arts to the Twins’ inability to win here. A little bit overheated, but Span was game.
“I don’t think anybody in the clubhouse believes there’s a hex or anything,” he said. “I think we had bad luck. Every team has a team they maybe don’t have good luck against. We just haven’t had good luck here.”
Luck may take a back seat to the nine-figure talent in pinstripes. The Twins wanted to get on base and small-ball Sabathia and the Yankees, but their base-stealers weren’t in position to manufacture runs.