Sonny Gray and the rest of the Yankees’ pitching struggles in loss to Twins

Despite the amount of time it took to take the lead, Monday’s game could not have gone much better than it did. The offense looked good, and the Yankees got a strong outing from J.A Happ, who’s been their best pitcher since acquiring him.

Then there was Tuesday. After being pretty decent in his last couple outings, Sonny Gray again showed that no corner had been turned. Also, the offense threw in one of their patented bases loaded RISP fails.

While Monday showed what can happen when the team plays well, Tuesday's 10-5 loss to the Twins shows what can happen when they don’t.

The game actually got off a decent start, as the Yankees took the lead in the second. Didi Gregorius picked up a one-out triple, and scored a batter later on Gary Sanchez’s sac fly.

Right after that, Gray escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom half of the second. He loaded the bases again in the third, but that time he wasn’t so lucky. The Twins quickly loaded the bases on a pair of walks either side of a single. After getting Robbie Grossman to strike out, the wheels fell off.

First, a passed ball on Austin Romine allowed the tying run to score. Jake Cave followed that up with a single to plate both other runners and put the Twins ahead. While he finally did get out of the third, that would be the end of Gray’s day as Jonnathan Loaisiga replaced him for the fourth.

After the Yankees left the bases loaded in the fourth, the Twins tacked on a run in the bottom of the inning. Jorge Polanco picked up an RBI double off Loaisiga to extend Minnesota’s lead.

Loaisiga came back out for the fifth inning, but that went even worse. He loaded the bases with nobody out before walking in a run, and allowed a single to Willians Astudillo. That would be it for him, but Tommy Kahnle came in and didn’t improve things. The first batter Kahnle faced was Joe Mauer, who hit a grand slam to straight away center. Suddenly, the Twins’ lead was up to nine runs.

The Yankees cut into that deficit somewhat in the top of the sixth. Andrew McCutchen, Miguel Andujar, and Giancarlo Stanton all reached to load the bases ahead of Gregorius. The shortstop then hit a grand slam of his own, getting the Yankees somewhat back in the game.

That would be the extent of either team’s offense for the rest of the game, though. Stephen Tarpley threw two scoreless innings for the Yankees, while various members of the Twins’ bullpen held the offense in check.

Monday saw what can happen when some of the best parts of the Yankees are playing their best. Tuesday saw what can happen when some of the worst parts play their worst.

Box score.