1. Oh how easy being a Yankees fan would be if the Yankees were part of the AL Central. In desperate need of a win, the Twins arrived in the Bronx and rolled over for the Yankees like they always do. The Yankees won 6-2 to win the first game of a series for the first time since the July 11-13 against the Cubs (though the Yankees ended up losing the second and third games of that series).
2. Will Warren (6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2 HR) was dominant and economical through the first 5 2/3 innings before Byron Buxton got him for a solo home run. Up until that point it felt like the Yankees had the game in the bag with Warren throwing a one-hitter, even though the Yankees only had a 3-0 lead. Warren gave up another solo home run in the seventh and the three-run lead that felt like it would be enough for a win was suddenly down to a single run.
3. Thankfully, the Yankees added two runs in the bottom of the seventh and another in the eighth. Luke Weaver got four outs across the seventh and eighth in relief of Warren and David Bednar got the final three outs of the game. Starter to Weaver to Bednar is a recipe for success and the only formula that can be trusted at this point since no other relievers can be trusted and Boone doesn’t know how to or when to properly use anyone other than those two.
4. “I think we’ve been needing that spark,” Warren said. “The past month hasn’t been how we’re supposed to play baseball.”
The past month? How about the past two months? Because this collapse started back after the win over the Royals on June 12. If you want to go back further, the Yankees are just one game over .500 since April 27.
Cody Bellinger hit a first-inning solo home run, Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice hit back-to-back solo home runs in the third and Jazz Chisholm hit a solo home run in the eighth. The solo home run: the only way the Yankees seem to know how to score.
5. “That’s what it’s supposed to look like right there,” Boone said of the win.
And that’s what it’s supposed to look like to take Boone out of the game: 6 2/3 innings from the starter, only needing your best two relievers, six runs from the offense and no errors in the field or on the bases. A Boone-less game is the best kind of game. The manager never had a chance to impact the game and ruin it.
6. Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ryan McMahon each went 1-for-4 and combined for five strikeouts. Anthony Volpe went 1-for-3 with a walk and Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as he continues to be unable to hit right-handed pitching, no matter who it is, and demolish left-handed pitching, no matter who it is. The Yankees went 10-for-34 as a team with a double, four home runs, two walks and 12 strikeouts.
7. Do I feel any better about the Yankees after Monday’s game than I did before it? No. The Yankees are still a mess. One win against a team going nowhere and a team that sold nearly half its roster at the trade deadline isn’t exactly feeling-changing. The Yankees could (and should) win on Tuesday and again on Wednesday for their first sweep in more than a month and I would feel the same way about them. The Twins suck and beating up on them should be expected and nothing more. Yes, wins over the Twins are crucial and much-needed, but there is nothing the Yankees could do in this series to make me think the Yankees team that is one game over .500 over their last 91 games isn’t going to show up in St. Louis on Friday.
8. The Blue Jays, Mariners and Guardians were off, the Red Sox lost and the Rangers won, so it was a pretty good night for the Yankees. The Yankees remain in the third wild-card spot (and would play a best-of-3 against the Astros with all games in Houston if the season ended today). Here is where the Yankees are in the standings:
7 games back of the Blue Jays in the division (because of the head-to-head tiebreaker)
3 games back of the Mariners for the first wild card
2.5 games back of the Red Sox for the second wild card (because of the head-to-head tiebreaker)
Tied with the Guardians in the loss column (Guardians hold intradivision tiebreaker)
3.5 games up on the Rangers (because of the head-to-head tiebreaker)
9. The Yankees really need the Guardians to start losing because it’s going to be very difficult for the Yankees to finish with a better record against the AL East than the Guardians will have against the AL Central.
While the Yankees play the Twins, the Blue Jays play the Cubs (great), the Red Sox play the Astros (great), the Mariners play the Orioles (not great), the Guardians play the Marlins (OK) and the Rangers play the Diamondbacks (not great).
10. Carlos Rodon gets the ball on Tuesday. In his last seven starts dating back to June 30, he has one quality start (July 11 against the Cubs). Outside of that start, he failed to go more than 5 1/3 innings in any of the other six and has put 55 baserunners on in 38 innings. He has been bad for a long time (just like Max Fried has) and that needs to change on Tuesday. It has to change on Tuesday.
Last modified: Aug 12, 2025
