If you needed another example of how bad the Yankees were last season, they actually lost the season series against the Twins.
These are the same Twins that the Yankees have beaten regularly over the past few years, decades or more.
Now, the Yankees are back atop the American League East and once again treating the Twins like a glorified Triple-A team.
The game continued on Wednesday night in front of a rapt crowd of 43,202 in the Bronx, with the Yankees scoring four runs in the first inning to win 9-5.
The Yankees tied their season-high with seven straight wins thanks to Aaron Judge’s season-high five RBIs and Carlos Rodon’s six strong innings.
Rodon struck out the first 16 batters he faced before Carlos Santana hit a home run to right field with one out in the sixth inning.
Until then, the only drama remaining in the stadium was the left-handed pitcher’s pursuit of perfection.
The Yankees immediately went after Minnesota right-hander Chris Paddack, who led off the bottom of the first inning with a 101 mph single to center field by Anthony Volpe.
Juan Soto’s soft hit advanced the runner to third base, and Judge’s grounder to second base allowed Volpe to score.
After Alex Verdugo struck out, Paddack was on the verge of ending the inning without further damage, but then Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI single and then a slugging Anthony Rizzo hit a double to left field, sending Stanton to third base.
Then Gleyber Torres hit a fly down the right field line that a diving Manuel Margo couldn’t catch for a two-run ground-rule double, making the score 4-0.
Paddack fought back by getting 10 consecutive batters out, but DJ LeMahieu was walked in the bottom of the fifth.
Then, Volpe singled and Soto walked to load the bases and eject Paddack.
Diego Castillo took his place, but he was soon hit by a bases-loaded triple by Judge.
Judge then scored on a sacrifice fly by Verdugo on a close play at home plate, capping the Yankees’ second four-run score of the game.
Rodon finally started to lose some steam in the sixth.
Santana hit a home run the other way, followed by Kyle Farmer singled and Manuel Margo doubled.
A sacrifice fly by Carlos Correa made the score 8-2, but Rodon ended the inning, recording a season-high nine strikeouts.
Dennis Santana replaced Rodon but was shaky, giving up three runs in two innings before Michael Tonkin finished up.
