Daily Report – 9/16/25
Yankees
Look, I get it. It isn’t fun to finish a 12-game gauntlet, take a midnight plane from Boston to Minneapolis, not get to sleep until 5 AM, and play baseball the next day. That doesn’t give road teams much to work with when they travel overnight between cities without a day off. But that’s no excuse for putting up two hits and losing 7-0 to Simeon Woods Richardson, his 4.58 ERA, and the Minnesota Twins, especially when the Yankees are in a tight playoff race, with their Wild Card home-field advantage hanging by a thread.
Before last night, the Yankees were 125-45 against Minnesota in the regular season and postseason since 2002. That’s the best record in that span by any Major League Baseball team against a single opponent, which makes yesterday’s loss even harder to swallow. The Yankees now sit five games behind Toronto for the division lead, which means they’ll probably have to play a Wild Card series if they want to punch their playoff ticket. Home-field advantage is crucial in a Wild Card series, since all three games are played at the higher seed’s home venue, and the Yankees currently sit one game ahead of Boston for the first American League Wild Card spot.
It isn’t like Woods Richardson pitched all that well against the Yankees. There wasn’t anything unique about how he delivered his pitches, and he hung plenty of sliders and fastballs down the middle. However, the Yankees whiffed on them repeatedly, striking out 11 times. They struck out 12 times against Garrett Crochet on Sunday, which wasn’t surprising, given his talent. But Woods Richardson is not Crochet.
The Yankees didn’t play poorly “on purpose, that’s for sure,” said Ryan McMahon, who went 0-for-3 at the plate with a couple of strikeouts. “It’s the game of baseball, and it’ll humble you real quick. But we got to get back to it.”
New York also wasted another strong performance by Carlos Rodón, who gave up just two runs across six innings. “Obviously, the goal is to win every day,” said Rodón, who learned before the game that his team had nominated him for the Roberto Clemente Award. “Just a couple pitches I want back to keep that game tighter and give our boys a better chance at winning that game.”
While both of Rodón’s runs were earned, one came off a double-play ball that didn’t get turned. In the bottom of the third inning, Jhonny Pereda doubled, and Edouard Julien beat out José Caballero’s throw to put runners at the corners without any outs. After Rodón sent Byron Buxton down on strikes, Austin Martin sharply grounded a low fastball to shortstop, and Caballero took too long to throw to second base for the double play.
“He started like he could take it himself, and then he changed,” said manager Aaron Boone. “But by that point, it turns a little too late to turn the double play with Martin getting down the line well. You’ve got to go right there and take it yourself or flip it. I think he should have flipped it right away, and we get the double play."
Caballero made another mistake with one out in the fifth inning. After generating the Yankees’ only extra-base hit – they didn’t get another hit all night after that – he got caught trying to steal third base. While Caballero’s 46 stolen bases lead the majors, he didn’t need to try to steal in that situation.
The Yankees kept things close while Rodón was pitching, but when it was time for the bullpen to take over, they imploded all over Target Field. Luke Weaver was summoned first, and despite a successful performance on Saturday, he holds a 19.29 ERA in his last seven games (4.2 innings pitched). Last night, he gave up five runs on three hits and two walks, generating his only out on a sacrifice bunt. Minnesota took a 6-0 lead off Weaver, highlighted by Austin Martin’s bases-clearing double. When Camilo Doval inherited Martin at second base, he came home to score, giving Minnesota a 7-0 lead.
“That was trash,” said Weaver. “Felt like I was fighting myself the whole time, mentally just trying to overcome it with a good mindset and stay within myself. Those two things just weren’t coming together.”
If the Yankees want to make it anywhere in October, their bullpen needs to be strong. Yankees’ relievers were good against Toronto and Boston during the gauntlet, but they struggled against Detroit and Houston. They must find consistency down the stretch. The same can be said about the Yankees’ offense.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Ryan McMahon said of his team’s performance. “I think a lot of guys think that we should have been a lot better tonight.”
The Yankees will try to bounce back tonight at 7:40 PM (6:40 PM CDT) as RHP Cam Schlittler (3-3, 3.05 ERA) minds the rock against RHP Zebby Matthews (4-5, 5.06 ERA) (YES).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
1B Ben Rice (L)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
DH Giancarlo Stanton (R)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
3B Ryan McMahon (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (3-3, 3.05 ERA)
Schedule
7:40 PM (6:40 PM CDT): NYY at MIN; YES; SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (3-3, 3.05 ERA)
