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You know the saying - there are three certainties in life: Death, taxes, and the Yankees will beat the Twins. Luke Voit continued to walk the walk and Nestor Cortes Jr. threw seven solid innings to lead the Yankees to a 10-2 win tonight in the Bronx. The Yankees have now won eight in a row and 30 of their last 41 overall.
The turning point of the game came when Twins starting pitcher Charlie Barnes threw a sinker wide of the strike zone for ball one to DJ LeMahieu leading off the bottom of the first.
The Yankees went on to bat around in the top of the first inning. It was certainly murder by 1,000 paper cuts as three singles, three walks and a hit by pitch led to a four-run outburst. Luke Voit, continuing his polite-but-stern request for consistent playing time, provided the highlight of the inning with a two-run single, a 108.3-mph line drive down the left-field line.
The Bombers came out in the bottom of the second inning with the look of a team that was tired of playing in close games. LeMahieu led off the frame with a single, and then Aaron Judge took it upon himself to dispense with the subtle tactics. When the 107-mph line drive off Judge’s bat landed in the right-field seats, the Yankees had themselves a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Voit continued to treat Twins starter, Charlie Barnes like a piñata, lining a 382-foot drive into left-center field for an RBI double. When Joey Gallo, who had reached on a walk crossed home plate, the Yankees had themselves a one-touchdown lead.
Meanwhile, Cortes cruised through five scoreless innings before running into some Twins bats in the top of the sixth inning. As I noted in the pre-game thread, despite the underwhelming season the Twins are having, the Twins can hit and they aren’t inclined to just go away when they fall behind on the scoreboard. Third baseman Luis Arraez led off the inning with a double, which Josh Donaldson followed with a 106.4-mph line drive into the left-field seats. When a fan stopped the ball’s flight, the Twins were on the board, but still trailed 7-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Luke Voit notched his fourth hit of the evening, a 408-foot drive over the right-center field wall that expanded the Yankees’ lead to 8-2:
LeMahieu added a long ball of his own in the eighth to stretch the lead even further. His two-run shot into the seats in the left-field got the Yankees to double digits, making the score 10-2.
Although the offensive explosion, particularly from Voit was the story tonight, Cortes’ performance was just as important. Despite the rough three batter stretch in the sixth inning, Cortes’ final line turned out quite nicely: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB, and only 4 hits. Nasty Nestor continues to be one of the best stories of the season for the Yankees.
The Yankees go for their ninth win in a row tomorrow afternoon with their ace on the mound. Gerrit Cole will toe the slab in the boogie down for the Yankees against the Twins once again, first pitch, 1:05 PM ET.