BRONX — The Yankees have had the Minnesota Twins’ number for quite some time, but Thursday night wasn’t one of those nights.
A disastrous first inning saw the Yankees give up nine runs and Jhony Brito faced his first true test of adversity this season in an 11-2 loss to the Twins. New York had historically dominated Minnesota going 34-12 against them dating back to 2015 and it was the sixth time in that span that the Yankees were limited to just one run by the Twins.
Thursday was the second time this season that an opponent held the Bronx Bombers to a single run and the loss dropped New York to 8-5. Jhony Brito pitched 0.2 innings in the loss in his worst start of the season.
“Just looked like a lot of pitches up and out of the plate,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of his starter. Just struggle a little bit with, you know, he was ball one with too much too. Then behind in the count and didn’t leave the sinker elevated too much. So obviously a rough night.”
Brito had entered the night with a 0.90 ERA and when he came out after giving up the seventh run of the inning — a two-run shot to center field — his ERA ballooned to 6.75. The righty had not allowed more than three hits through his first two starts this season and had gone at least five innings before Thursday.
Brito allowed seven runs on six hits in the outing.
The Yankees starter allowed more runs against the Twins in the series-opening game than he did all spring training combined with his first two starts.
Anthony Rizzo drove in the Yankees’ only two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the ninth when he hit solo home runs to right field. The homers were Rizzo’s second and third of the season.
“He was getting ahead and he was pitching his fastball with command,” Rizzo said about the outing of Twins’ starter Joe Ryan. “He was, strike one, strike two right away it seemed like on everyone. He’s got good life to his fastball, he commands the zone and usually when you can do that as a pitcher you’ll be alright.”
The loss did produce one of the more unique moments of the season so far when Isiah Kiner-Falefa came out to pitch in the top of the ninth with the Yankees down by 10. Kiner-Falefa gave up one hit without surrendering a run with his fastest pitching coming on his 12th of the inning, which was a 74 mph changeup to Nick Gordon.
Aaron Judge went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, ending his career-high 45-game on-base streak. It was the third-longest streak by a Yankee since 1942.
A sac fly from Trevor Larnach opened the floodgates in the first inning as the Twins took the 1-0 lead. Jose Miranda hit a line drive to center that scored two more runs and a Donovan Solano single made it 4-0.
Christian Vazquez doubled to drive in another run and Michael A. Taylor made it 7-0 with a two-run homer. Edouard Julien hit a homer to left after the Yankees replaced Brito with Colton Brewer and Carlos Correa homered making it 9-0.
Taylor hit his second home run of the game off Brewer in the top of the third.
