05/16/24 04:22:00
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05/16 16:20 CDT Yankees get career-best 8 shutout innings from Clarke Schmidt
in 5-0 win to sweep Twins
Yankees get career-best 8 shutout innings from Clarke Schmidt in 5-0 win to
sweep Twins
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) --- Clarke Schmidt cruised to a career-long eight shutout
innings after Anthony Volpe led off the game with a home run that sparked a
three-run first inning, and the New York Yankees finished a three-game sweep
with a 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
Schmidt (5-1) scattered a double and two singles without a walk while striking
out eight batters and winning his third consecutive start. He lobbied manager
Aaron Boone for the ninth, but with a career-high 103 pitches he figured he
didn't have much of a case.
"I was happy he left me out there for as long as he did," said Schmidt, who has
allowed three runs or fewer in each of his nine starts this season.
The 2017 first-round draft pick lowered his ERA from 2.95 to 2.49 while
throwing a career-high 103 pitches. His previous long was 6 2/3 innings,
matched in his most recent outing at Tampa Bay on Friday.
"He's got the repertoire to do it, and now he's becoming really good at
executing and having a real feel and command of his entire arsenal," Boone said.
Gleyber Torres hit two doubles and drove in a run, and Anthony Rizzo, Austin
Wells and Alex Verdugo also had RBIs for the Yankees (30-15), who have won 11
of their last 14 games and have the second-best record in the major leagues
behind Philadelphia.
Aaron Judge hit two more rockets for doubles and went 2 for 3 with a walk after
going 4 for 4 with a walk on Wednesday night. He had half as many hits in the
series as the Twins, whose streak of six straight series won came to a crashing
end while being outscored 14-1 and outhit 35-14 by the Yankees.
"I didn't kind of recognize much of what I was watching over the last three
days," manager Rocco Baldelli said.
After Ryan Jeffers hit a leadoff homer on Tuesday night, the Yankees threw 378
pitches and recorded 81 outs without allowing a run.
"It's been fun to watch, fun to see them go out there and work and do their
thing," Judge said.
Even the outs were hit hard by Judge, whose long fly to center went 409 feet to
the warning track ending the fifth. The ball would have been a home run in 18
of 30 ballparks, according to MLB Statcast.
"You can go from being the best team in baseball for two weeks," Twins
shortstop Carlos Correa said, "and then you can absolutely suck for three days.
You've just got to go out there and find a way to move on."
The outfield defense was also shaky all week for the Twins (24-19). Alex
Kirilloff misplayed a line drive by Torres in the first that glanced off his
glove at the warning track as Judge came around to score.
Twins starter Joe Ryan (2-3) lasted 5 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on six
hits and one walk while striking out five.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: 3B D.J. LeMahieu will resume his rehab assignment with Double-A
Somerset on Friday. The three-time All-Star has been sidelined all season after
and breaking his right foot on a foul ball in spring training on March 16. His
first rehab assignment was halted by soreness after one inning on April 23.
Twins: CF Byron Buxton was slated to play again for Triple-A St. Paul on
Thursday, likely the final step before he returns from the right knee
inflammation that has kept him out of the last 13 games.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (1-4, 4.02 ERA) pitches against Chicago on Friday
night to begin a three-game series. RHP Mike Clevinger (0-1, 5.40 ERA) starts
for the White Sox.
Twins: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound in Cleveland
on Friday night to start a three-game series. RHP Triston McKenzie (2-3, 3.54
ERA) pitches for the Guardians.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
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