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The New York Yankees are headed back to the American League Championship Series.
Aaron Boone’s Yanks took Game 3 of the American League Division Series to finish off a sweep of the Minnesota Twins. Despite only seven more hits (29-22), the Bombers outscored Rocco Baldelli’s squad 23-7 over the three games.
Still a bunch of savages. #NextManUp pic.twitter.com/Fd0RkZQ6CY
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 8, 2019
“The way we played tonight was championship-caliber baseball,” Boone said.
The Twins Have Gone Fishing
Minnesota is the first team to be eliminated in the divisional round this postseason. It’s the sixth out of the last seven times the Yankees eliminated the Twins. Minnesota has now picked up 16 straight postseason losses.
Not the ending we hoped for.
But this #BombaSquad is special. See you in 2020. pic.twitter.com/zIroy0rpoD
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) October 8, 2019
However, the Twins finished the regular season 101-61. That makes Rocco Baldelli the sixth manager to win over 100 games in his rookie season with Alex Cora being the last to do it in 2018.
Minnesota posted a top-five offense not just in the American League, but in all of Major League Baseball. The Twins had the most home runs (307) and runs batted in (906).
They finished second in the MLB in the following offensive categories:
- Runs – 939
- Hits – 1,547
- Batting average – .270
- Slugging percentage – .494
- On-base plus slugging – .832
Baldelli on his team’s effort:
Experience matters to Baldelli. He said he didn’t have that luxury this season and had to figure things out on the fly.
“I found it extraordinarily challenging but also very rewarding,” Baldelli said. “Every day when I left, I took something home with me and I’ll keep those things forever. I wouldn’t trade what just happened for anything in the world.”
Torres’s Hot Play
Gleyber Torres had a near-complete ALDS for New York. He led the team with five hits, along with batting .417, driving in four runs and scoring five.
Additionally, he also posted a .462 on-base percentage and slugged .917. In the field, he helped turned two double plays plus three putouts and seven assists on 10 total chances.
Boone on Torres’s play:
In the Yankees 5-1 win over the Twins, Gleyber Torres became the second youngest player in MLB history, with three extra-base hits in a postseason game.
And the third Yankee to have 3 in a series-clinching game, joining Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth. https://t.co/C9Qs5ta1NL— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) October 8, 2019
“We compete every time and now we have everybody healthy,” Torres said. “That is the time to enjoy, play really good baseball and try to win games.”
Torres and the Yankees will need to continue this production at the plate if they hope to make the Fall Classic. Whoever comes out of the other ALDS matchup will enter with a nasty pitching staff.
