Didi Gregorius Grand Slam Leads Yankees to Blowout Win over Twins in Game 2

The New York Yankees opened a 2-0 American League Division Series lead on the Minnesota Twins in the 2019 MLB playoffs with an 8-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Masahiro Tanaka, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, Tyler Lyons and Jonathan Loaisiga combined to limit the Twins to six hits and record 14 strikeouts.

Didi Gregorius was the standout performer for a Yankees squad that registered 11 hits. His grand slam in the third inning broke the game open.

Notable Performances

• Masahiro Tanaka, SP, Yankees: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• Didi Gregorius, SS, Yankees: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 4 RBI
• Aaron Judge, RF, Yankees: 2-for-3, 2 BB
• Edwin Encarnacion, DH, Yankees: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
• Randy Dobnak, SP, Twins: 2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB
• Nelson Cruz, DH, Twins: 1-for-3, 1 BB
• Eddie Rosario, RF, Twins: 1-for-4
• Mitch Garver, C, Twins: 2-for-4, 1 RBI

Third-Inning Explosion Decides Outcome Early

The Yankees got one run on the board in the first inning and forced manager Rocco Baldelli to call upon the bullpen with nobody out in the third after loading the bases.

Things didn't improve for Minnesota after Tyler Duffey toed the rubber.

Duffey allowed a sacrifice fly to Giancarlo Stanton and an RBI single to Gleyber Torres before Gregorius cleared the bags with a drive just inside the right-field foul pole to put New York ahead 7-0.

Baldelli clearly wasn't going to lean on his closer, Taylor Rogers, in the third inning, so Duffey was the most obvious candidate to come out and attempt to limit the damage in a difficult situation. According to FanGraphs, he had a 3.06 FIP and averaged 12.80 strikeouts per nine innings.

As often happens, Duffey's success in the regular season hasn't translated to the playoffs.

Given the work of their offense, the Yankees didn't need Tanaka to throw a gem, yet he did anyway. He struck out seven batters and allowed one walk. Not even the extended break he received watching the team plate seven runs could throw him off his game.

The Japanese right-hander clearly relishes pitching in October.

Twins Offense Kept in Check for Second Game

Nelson Cruz (.639), Mitch Garver (.630), Miguel Sano (.576) and Max Kepler (.519) were the top four in slugging percentage for a Twins lineup that hit an MLB-record 307 home runs.

Those four combined to go 2-for-14 and struck out seven times in Game 1. The numbers weren't much better in Game 2 as the quartet had three hits in 15 at-bats.

Entering Saturday, Tanaka threw his four-seam fastball 27.03 percent of the time, relying more on his slider (36.21 percent) and splitter (28.04), according to Brooks Baseball. The Twins seemed to struggle against a pitcher who was content to throw a majority of off-speed pitches.

Even if the pitching improves in Game 3, Minnesota will be dead in the water unless the offense looks more like its regular-season self. The Yankees' heavy hitters are delivering for the most part, and the Twins' are nowhere to be seen.

What's Next?

The series moves to Target Field in Minneapolis for Game 3 on Monday, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:40 p.m. ET. Jake Odorizzi is scheduled to start for the Twins, and the Yankees have Luis Severino set to take the bump.