About Last Night: Yankees 6, Twins 2

By Andy Singer

August 12th, 2025

The Big Story

I hope you're sitting down when you read this: the Yankees won a baseball game. Not only did they win, but they did so in decisive fashion. As Yankee fans, our ability to accept and enjoy wins has atrophied over the last month and change, so I know that it might take some time to accept the idea of a good win, but I assure you that this one falls into that category.

The biggest story of the game was that Will Warren became the first Yankee starting pitcher since Carlos Rodon on July 11th (!) to get an out in the 7th inning of a baseball game. That feels like a shocking statistic, unless you've watched this team play since the beginning of July. To give credit where credit is due, Warren pitched a great game. Warren's fastball velocity was up almost 1 MPH on average, and he relied heavily on both his 4-seamer and sinker to get outs, throwing the combination of 4-seamer and sinker on 65% of his pitches. Warren got burned twice on his sweeper on solo homers, once to Byron Buxton in the top of the 6th inning and again to lefty Trevor Larnach, the last batter Warren faced in the 7th inning. Despite Warren's continued struggles with the breaking ball, 6.2 innings of 3-hit ball is nothing to sneeze at, and it really felt like Warren came in on a mission to put the team on his back.

The Yankees largely came to play offensively. In the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees mixed in 3 hits with 2-outs, the first of which was a solo by Cody Bellinger on a deep homer to dead-right to put the Yankees up 1-0, a lead that they would never relinquish. The Yankee offense continued the fun against Twins' starting pitcher Zebby Matthews in the 3rd inning as Stanton and Rice went back-to-back, with Rice's homer in particular standing out. Stanton's homer on the first pitch almost looked like an "uh-oh" swing that still produced huge power, while Rice worked a 5-pitch at-bat before roping a 113.5 MPH liner 400+ feet around the foul pole in RF to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead.

While clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 7th inning, the Yankees did a little bit of everything against former Yankee prospect, Brooks Kriske. Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a booming double down the RF line, and moved up to 3B on a wild pitch. Anthony Volpe drew a 5-pitch walk after taking 4 straight splitters. Grisham and Judge did the rest, with each smacking singles to put 2 more runs up on the board, with Volpe moving from 1st to 3rd on Grisham's single.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has been ice cold at the plate lately, added a solo shot of his own for an insurance run in the 8th inning to put the Yankees up 6-2. There was very little to complain about the Yankee offense last night - they did their jobs.

Aaron Boone, thankfully, didn't play any bullpen games in this one, going straight to his two most reliable relievers to get the win. Luke Weaver looked like the best version of himself, going 1.1 innings in relief of Will Warren while generating 2 strikeouts. David Bednar pitched the 9th inning despite the fact that it was not a save situation. He rewarded Boone's decision with a perfect, fiery inning, getting 2 strikeouts and a groundout against the toughest part of Minnesota's lineup on just 12 pitches.

For a team that has struggled as mightily as the Yankees over the last month, they needed a win this decisive.

Player of the Game

Will Warren deserves the nod here, as no Yankee has gotten outs in the 7th inning in a month. Warren was fantastic, tossing 6.2 innings while allowing just 3 hits, 0 walks, and struck out 7 Twins. Warren attacked the strike zone and looked like he was on a mission all night.

Notable Performances

Stanton: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, and went 1st-to-3rd (!) on a single in the first inning

Rice: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, and his hardest hit ball of the season at 113.5 MPH

Volpe: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB

McMahon: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Judge: 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 K

Chisholm Jr.: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 BB, 2 K

Bellinger: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bednar/Weaver: 2.1, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 0 R

Better to Forget

Paul Goldschmidt was the only Yankee regular without a hit, going 0-4 with 2 K. The offensive implosion continues for Goldy.

My Take

This was a must-win game and a must-win series for the Yankees, who have dug themselves an impressive hole in the standings. The Twins are going nowhere this season, but the Yankees have struggled against everyone lately, so a win is a win, no matter who the team faces. This game had a bit of everything: homers, good baserunning, excellent fielding, and gutsy pitching. This was a complete, team game much like how the Yankees played through mid-June before beginning their stunning fall from grace.

Will Warren produced one of the best starts of his career last night, and I really liked the game plan that called for him to mix in more 2-seam fastballs in addition to his 4-seamer. It really seemed to help keep even good batters on the Twins from squaring up his 4-seam fastball at the top of the zone. Warren continues to struggle with his secondary stuff, as his breaking balls are getting pounded more than almost any regular starter in baseball. It's obvious that his sweeper is wildly inconsistent in both release and shape, and it is almost unusable against left-handed batters, as evidenced by Larnach's homer against the pitch to end Warren's night. Warren needs to go back to the curveball against lefties, but the truth is that the pitch is average on its best night. Warren had a great night, and I don't mean to take anything away from him, but he needs to find another weapon to use against good teams.

Another point of concern: Aaron Judge. In last week's SSTN Mailbag, I opined that Judge's hand/forearm injury will certainly effect his performance at the plate and will diminish his power and ability to control the bat due to decreased grip strength. It pains me to say, "I told you so," but...yeah. I watched Judge take a couple of really painful, slow swings last night and decided to look at the swing speed numbers on his swings that made contact last night, and it's an ugly picture. Judge has averaged roughly 77 MPH on swings for the last two seasons, with many swings producing speeds of 80+ MPH. Last night's recorded swing speeds on contact: 69.3 MPH and 70.7 MPH. Houston, we have a problem. Those are numbers you expect from a singles hitter, which is about what Judge has been since returning last week. Judge is not healthy, and the injury is definitively effecting him at the plate. Count me among the people who are very, very worried about him.

Aside from my two points of gloom and doom, this was a great win! It was nice to feel good about Yankee baseball. Volpe seems to be righting the ship to a point, with solid fielding, good baserunning, and a nice poke to the opposite field. Ryan McMahon plays a great 3B and adds just enough with the bat to be interesting. Stanton is picking up every bit of Judge's slack, and it's impressive to watch him turn back the clock. Oh, and it was great to see the bullpen be an asset as opposed to a liability, which it should be if Boone uses it correctly.

Let's hope for better times ahead.

Looking to Tomorrow

The Twins will likely toss a bullpen game tonight against Carlos Rodon at 7:05 PM EST. Let's hope for a win, because after all, 2 more, and that's called a winning streak...it has happened before.