Another Eduardo Escobar error, his third so far this series, and another strong performance by the New York Yankees bullpen results in a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Escobar booted a potential inning-ending double-play ball in the eighth inning, allowing former Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks to score. It was the Yankees’ fifth consecutive home victory over Minnesota.
“What is there to say? I went to get it, the ball came out of my glove, and what happened, happened,” Escobar told the Star Tribune through an interpreter. “It was hard, hit hard. At that point, there’s not much you can do but throw your glove at it.”
Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman did their thing once again. Betances only needed nine pitches to get out of the seventh. Miller needed 12 for the eighth. Chapman gave up a two-out single to Joe Mauer, but struck out Brian Dozier to end the game.
“We have so much confidence in all three of those guys out there and it’s crazy that every time they come (in), we expect them to be perfect,” Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran told The Associated Press. “Hopefully as a team we can score more runs so that we can give those guys a break here and there.”
Reliever Ryan Pressly was the biggest victim of the night, taking his fourth loss of the year despite pitching well. Alex Rodriguez reached on a soft roller up the third base line. Then Brian McCann hit a soft looper over Byung-ho Park’s head before Escobar committed his fatal error.
“They have one of the best pitching staffs in the whole game, same thing as Kansas City, and their bullpen is even better,” Escobar told the Star Tribune. “You can’t take too much from them, and if you get to their bullpen, you’re basically done.”
[Star Tribune, The Associated Press]
