The Yankees lineup continued their domination of the Twins pitching in Game 2 on Saturday after Didi Gregorius’ grand slam helped the Bronx Bombers to an 8-1 lead.
The offenses for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees were supposed to be evenly matched going into their ALDS matchup. So far in this series, though, it’s been all Bronx Bombers.
Didi Gregorius’ grand slam off Twins reliever Tyler Duffey in the bottom of the third inning on Saturday at Yankee Stadium put the Yankees up 7-0 on the Twins and on their way to a 2-0 series lead. The Yankees won the opening game 10-4 on Friday.
Over the course of 162 games in the regular season, the Yankees and Twins finished separated by four runs, one home run and three points in batting average. Through a game-and-a-half in the postseason, New York is now outscoring the Twins 18-5 and has out-hit them 18-10 (they each have three home runs).
After the Yankees scored 10 runs in the first game of the series, the Twins turned to former Uber driver Randy Dobnak to slow down the Yankees’ offense. Dobnak is going to get a low rating for this game, though, as he exited after being charged with four runs on six hits in just two innings.
The Yankees loaded the bases in the third inning before Gregorius, who hit .163 with no home runs in the final 11 games of the season, hit a fastball from Duffey down the right-field line for a grand slam. It’s the 12th grand slam in Yankees postseason history, and first since Robinson Cano did it off Al Alburquerque of the Tigers in the 2011 ALDS.
The Yankees batted around in the inning and went into the fourth with an 8-0 lead. Minnesota would finally score off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, but still trail 8-1 as they play in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
The Twins finished the regular season with 101 wins, one off the franchise record, and 307 home runs, a new Major League record. But their hard luck against the Yankees in October is continuing. They’ve lost 11 straight to New York in the postseason and are now 2-14 against New York since 2013.