Minnesota looking to turn table on old foe
After being eliminated four times by Yankees, Twins seek new ending
NEW YORK— Twins star Joe Mauer remembers well all those October losses to the Yankees. So too, surely, do Minnesota’s fans.
Around the rest of the Twins clubhouse, though, it may as well be ancient history.
Back in the playoffs for the first time in seven years, Mauer and upstart Minnesota will face New York in the AL wild-card game Tuesday night hoping to turn around what has been a one-sided post-season rivalry.
New York eliminated the smallmarket Twins in the Division Series four times from 2003-10, repeatedly dashing the World Series aspirations of a largely homegrown lineup.
“Somebody asked me earlier, ‘Does it feel like seven years?’ ” Mauer said. “I said, ‘Yes, and all of that.’ ”
Mauer is the only holdover from that era. Minnesota now has a new batch of budding young stars, and it’s a group that’s already wrecked some history. Powered by third baseman Miguel Sano and centre-fielder Byron Buxton, these Twins became the first team ever to go from 100 losses one year to the playoffs the next.
“I’m really excited for this group to experience this,” Mauer said. “There’s a lot of guys in our clubhouse that this is their first go-round. I was just real happy. It’s been a special year to see these guys kind of grow.”
This time, Minnesota won’t be running into playoff-proven Yankee greats such as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
Like the Twins, New York has been fuelled by its burgeoning big leaguers. AL MVP hopeful Aaron Judge headlines the crew, which also includes Tuesday’s starter Luis Severi- no and catcher Gary Sanchez. Only Brett Gardner, Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley started for New York in their previous wild-card appearance, a 3-0 loss to Dallas Keuchel and the Astros in 2015.
“The faces have changed so much,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who managed New York past Minnesota in the 2009 and ’10 ALDS.
The 6-foot-7 Judge set a rookie record with 52 homers and has become the new face of the franchise. He even has his own cheering section at Yankee Stadium — The Judge’s Chambers in right field, which will host a group of Bronx school kids Tuesday.
Limiting Judge may be the most pivotal task for Twins starter Ervin Santana.
“Have to be careful with him,” Santana said. “Don’t try to leave any cookies right there.”
Here’s some more to chew on before New York and Minnesota vie to face the reigning AL champion Indians in an ALDS:
The 23-year-old Severino starts the wild-card game after going 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA in a breakout regular season. He averaged 97.6 mph on his fastball — tops among qualified starters by nearly 2 mph — and paired it with a powerful slider and improved changeup. Molitor, a member of the 3,000-hit club as a player, said he’d suggest that his hitters do more guessing at the plate than usual to combat Severino’s overpowering arsenal. “I don’t think that you go up there trying to hit all three of his pitches because that’s usually not a good mix,” Molitor said. “A guy that was comparable for me in his prime was Pedro (Martinez). I couldn’t hit all three pitches. I just had to try to own something.” Minnesota faced Severino two weeks ago, chasing the right-hander after three runs in three innings. Severino laboured through a 46-pitch third inning, including a 13-pitch at-bat against Mauer that ended in an RBI single. It was the longest at-bat of the 2009 AL MVP’s career.
The Yankees have a trio of all-stars at the back of their bullpen in Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and David Robertson, plus two of baseball’s best middle relievers in Chad Green and Tommy Kahnle. In a winnertake-all game, Girardi figures to get to those arms sooner than usual. He also says he won’t hesitate to use Betances, who has struggled with his control. “I do feel good about Dellin,” Girardi said. On the other side, Molitor may use starter Jose Berrios out of the bullpen. Berrios made his first relief appearance in the majors Friday, getting the win with 11⁄ score
3 less innings against Detroit.