Minnesota's offense mustered a single run against the New York Yankees' Max Fried on Tuesday night.
The Minnesota Twins struggled to get anything going on Tuesday night, suffering a brutal 8-1 loss when they only mustered a single run against the New York Yankees' Max Fried who struck out six batters through seven innings pitched.
Ben Rice got to work early in the first inning, singling on an eighth-pitch four-seam fastball while Cody Bellinger crushed a two-run homer to right-center field off Twins starter Bailey Ober for a 2-0 Yankees lead.
Emmanuel Rodríguez responded in the second with a one-run single that drove in Royce Lewis and spoiled the shutout. Still, New York remained unfazed, creeping ahead once more when George Lombard Jr. scored another runner in Heliot Ramos.
Minnesota starter Bailey Ober found himself in a bases-loaded jam after walking Anthony Volpe, but got out of it when he generated a flyout from Ali Sánchez. He would prevent further damage through the next few innings, but the Twins' bullpen unfortunately couldn't keep it close.
The Yankees' star-studded lineup erupted for four runs in the sixth as Ramos brought home Rice while Jones made reliever Taylor Rogers pay for a hanging 77-mph sweeper, obliterating it to center field for a three-run shot to extend the lead to 7-1.
With Fried finally out of the game, Rodríguez appeared to have launched a solo blast to right field to bring the game within five during the eighth. However, it was waved off by the umpiring crew who ruled it a foul, inflicting yet another blow to Minnesota's night.
New York continued pressing in the ninth when José Caballero drove in Lombard Jr. with an RBI single off Andrew Morris. Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough then slammed the door shut on the Twins, recording three-straight outs to seal the matchup and the series win for the Yankees.
With the loss, Minnesota has gone 70-81 overall and 39-38 at Target Field this season. Ober took a hit as well, falling to 7-6 through 23 starts while now compiling a 4.32 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.
Tuesday also marked the team's fourth-straight series loss since they dropped two out of three matchups to the division rival Chicago White Sox earlier this month.
As a result, Minnesota will need a lot to go their way for them to make the MLB playoffs at such a late point in the season.
In the meantime, the Twins will turn their attention to their upcoming four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels starting on Thursday at 9:38 p.m. EDT.
