DJ LeMahieu's 4 RBI Power Yankees to 10-4 Game 1 Win over Twins

The New York Yankees took a 1-0 American League Division Series lead over the Minnesota Twins with a 10-4 win Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees have now beaten the Twins in 14 of 16 postseason games all-time, and Minnesota held a lead in 10 of the last 11 meetings, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. 

The Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to solo home runs by Jorge Polanco in the first inning and Nelson Cruz in the third. It seemed that Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton was in for a long night, but New York's bullpen relieved him with two outs in the fifth inning and kept the Twins in check for the remainder of the game.

Minnesota's bullpen, meanwhile, had the opposite effect. The Yankees were able to earn seven runs off relievers. First baseman DJ LeMahieu led the attack with four RBI, and he had a sixth-inning solo homer and a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the seventh.

The Yankees last played the Twins in the postseason in the 2017 AL Wild Card Game and defeated them 8-4. Minnesota is seeking its first win in a playoff game since 2004 entering Saturday's Game 2.

Notable Performances

Twins SP Jose Berrios: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 

Twins SS Jorge Polanco: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Twins DH Nelson Cruz: 1-for-2, 1 HR, 2 BB

Twins 3B Miguel Sano: 1-for-4, 1 HR

Yankees SP James Paxton: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 8 K

Yankees 1B DJ LeMahieu: 3-for-5, 1HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI

Yankees 2B Gleyber Torres: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB

Yankees DH Edwin Encarnacion: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI

Yankees LF Giancarlo Stanton: 0-for-1, 3 BB

Yankees CF Brett Gardner: 1-for-4, 1 HR

Yankees Show Offensive Versatility 

The Yankees offense showed up Friday night, and the lead was already in hand when LeMahieu and Gardner each hit solo dingers in the bottom of the sixth inning:

New York used small ball to come back. Minnesota had seven hits, but three were solo home runs.

The Yankees gained a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third due to an error by Twins first baseman C.J. Cron. Polanco used a nine-pitch at-bat to oust Paxton in the top of the fifth, with a single that scored Luis Arraez, but a double by Torres in the bottom of the inning helped give the Yanks the lead for good:

The Twins ended the regular season with a league-leading 307 home runs, an MLB record, but the Yankees were right behind them at 306. There were five dingers in Game 1 between the two sides, but if New York continues to use the long ball as a supplement rather than a lifeline, the Twins are in trouble. 

That said, the regular season would suggest the Yankees need some of that production:

Whichever team finds the proper balance will advance. 

Twins' First-Half Bullpen Concerns Re-Emerge 

At the midway point of the 2019 campaign, the concern was that Minnesota's bullpen could be its demise. But from Aug. 1 through the end of the regular season, the bullpen posted a 3.80 ERA with a combined 4.48 strikeouts per walk, according to the Pioneer Press' Dane Mizutani. "Far and away the best mark of the four remaining American League playoff teams," Mizutani noted. 

The group didn't perform like that Friday night, and it could have more to do with the opponent than anything else:

Berrios didn't have a particularly strong outing, needing 88 pitches to get through four innings, but he only allowed one earned run. It was the Twins bullpen that let the Yankees blow the game open:

"I feel like the way Minnesota has been, the bullpen has always been seen as a problem," closer Taylor Rogers said prior to Game 1, per Mizutani. "Who else are you going to put the blame on?

"Our offense is the best in the history of the league. Our starters have been great. Our defense is solid. Where else do you put the blame? We were just kind of the scapegoat. If you actually look at the numbers, [that criticism] is not warranted."

If the bullpen continues to look like it did in Game 1, it will be the scapegoat yet again.

          
What's Next?

The Twins and Yankees will be back at Yankee Stadium for Game 2 on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:07 p.m. ET.