The Yankees' week-long road trip to Minnesota and Texas did not get off to an auspicious start last night. Especially since they were faced by 2 of the ghosts of Brian Cashman screw-ups past.
Sonny Gray started for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Not surprisingly, given that their lineup included Aaron Hicks, but not Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees couldn't hit him. DJ LeMahieu got 2 hits, but the rest of the lineup combined for only 4. Even the 1 run the Yankees scored, at the very end, came on a fielder's choice by Oswaldo Cabrera.
Jhony Brito started for the Yankees, and while the rookie has been a nice surprise thus far, he didn't have it last night, being taken out in the 3rd inning.
And in the 4th, reliever Greg Weissert gave up a home run -- to Joey Gallo, another ghost of Cashman screw-ups past.
Twins 6, Yankees 1. WP: Gray (3-0). No save. LP: Brito (2-2).
Right now, Gallo is batting .243. That's not good, but compare it to these names in last night's Yanker lineup: Aaron Judge, .244 (remember, he was threatening for the batting title, and thus the Triple Crown, last September); Cabrera, .211; Jose Tevino, .208; Anthony Volpe, .194; Isiah Kiner-Falefa, .176; Franchy Cordero, .174; and Hicks, .107. Nope, that's not a typo: 3 hits in 28 at-bats equals one-oh-seven.
And that doesn't include these guys, who didn't get into last night's game: Oswald Peraza, .200; Kyle Higashioka, .194; Willie Calhoun, .136; and Josh Donaldson, who was at .125 when he went on the Injured List, presumably long-term.
The series continues tonight. Nestor Cortés starts against Joe Ryan.