MLB

Minnesota Twins survive explosive New York Yankees start, Blue Jays hand Rays first loss

By Sports Desk April 14, 2023

The Minnesota Twins came back from the worst possible start to earn a 4-3 road win against the New York Yankees on Friday.

In a stunning first inning in front of their home fans, the Yankees led 2-0 after two at-bats. Rookie Anthony Volpe connected on a 394-foot shot to left-center field for his first career home run, and he was followed by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who sent his solo home run 404 feet for his fifth dinger of the season.

Judge's five home runs this season trails only Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan Mountcastle and New York Mets star Pete Alonso for the league's most, both with six.

But those two runs would be the only scores until the sixth inning, when Carlos Correa put the Twins on the board with a solo home run of his own, barely scraping over the short-porch at right-field with a distance of 331 feet.

Giancarlo Stanton answered for the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth, cancelling out Correa's blast with another solo home run, before Kyle Garlick smacked the game's fifth solo homer to cut the New York lead to 3-2.

But after Michael Taylor and Byron Buxton both got on base to lead off the eighth frame, Correa came through again with a two-run double to give the Twins their first lead, setting up Jhoan Duran to come in and pick up the save – his fourth of the season.

The win was the Twins' fourth in a row, improving their AL Central-leading record to 10-4, while the Yankees slipped to 8-6.

Jays end the Rays' historic start

The Tampa Bay Rays have had their perfect start to the season snapped at 13 wins after the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them 6-3 at home.

George Springer gave the Blue Jays an early lead when he sent the second pitch from Rays starter Drew Rasmussen 440 feet for a lead-off home run, before team-mate Bo Bichette doubled their lead with a ground-rule double in the second inning.

Bichette went on to collect five hits from his five at-bats – three singles and two doubles – but it was loose pitching from Tampa Bay that doomed them to defeat.

Trailing just 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Rays issued two bases-loaded walks, and then allowed two more runs to score on an error.

Tampa Bay tied the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers for the best start to a season (13-0) since the 1884 St Louis Maroons (20-0).

Ohtani and Trout both hit, walk in Angels loss

The Los Angeles Angels went down 5-3 on the road against the Boston Red Sox, despite their two former AL MVPs both finishing with a hit and a walk.

Shohei Ohtani went one-for-four with a walk, while Mike Trout also went one-for-four with a walk, although his hit went for a double down the left-field line.

The production from the Angels' stars was not enough to overcome three fielding errors as a team, including two costly errors from third-baseman Anthony Rendon to allow three runs, and a fourth run scored on a passed ball from catcher Logan O'Hoppe.

Boston's top bat Rafael Devers was the highlight for the home side, connecting on his equal league-leading sixth homer.

Related items

  • Ohtani helps Dodgers rally to win season opener Ohtani helps Dodgers rally to win season opener

    Shohei Ohtani had two hits in his official Los Angeles Dodgers debut, including an RBI single during a four-run eighth inning that helped his new team rally for a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea in Wednesday's opener of the 2024 MLB season. 

    Mookie Betts also had two hits and an RBI as the Dodgers got a season of sky-high expectations off to a successful start, though they faced a 2-1 deficit entering the eighth before the offence came to life against San Diego's bullpen.

    The Dodgers loaded the bases with none out on a pair of walks and a Teoscar Hernandez single before Enrique Hernandez drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. Gavin Lux then reached base on a ground ball that went through the web of Padres first baseman Jake Cronenworth's glove, with Teoscar Hernandez scoring on the error for a 3-2 lead.

    Betts and Ohtani followed with RBI singles to extend the lead to 5-2 before relievers Joe Kelly and Evan Phillips held the Padres scoreless over the final two innings.

    Los Angeles received a total of four scoreless innings from four relievers after another of its big-ticket offseason acquisitions, Tyler Glasnow, allowed two runs over five innings.

    Glasnow did issue four walks in his Los Angeles debut, including free passes to Manny Machado and Korean native Ha-Seong Kim to start the bottom of the fourth with the game tied at 1-1. Jurickson Profar followed with a bunt single to load the bases before Machado crossed the plate on a double-play grounder that put San Diego ahead.

    The Dodgers had tied the game in the top of the fourth when Teoscar Hernandez reached on an error and later scored on Jason Heyward's sacrifice fly. 

    San Diego recorded the first run of the season in the third when Xander Bogaerts singled in Tyler Wade, who drew a lead-off walk before advancing on Glasnow's wild pitch.

    Bogaerts accounted for two of the Padres' four hits.

    San Diego starter Yu Darvish worked the first 3 2/3 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits while walking three and striking out three.

    The game drew an announced crowd of 15,952 at the Gocheok Sky Dome for the first regular-season MLB game played in South Korea. The Dodgers and Padres will play again at the venue Thursday, with Los Angeles sending former Japanese league star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound for his anticipated MLB debut. 

  • ‘Fantastic experience’ promised as MLB returns to London this summer ‘Fantastic experience’ promised as MLB returns to London this summer

    Former World Series champion Chase Utley has promised a “fantastic experience” when Major League Baseball returns to London this summer.

    The 2024 MLB season officially gets under way on Wednesday with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in Seoul before the regular season begins on March 28.

    This summer, on the weekend of June 8-9, the latest MLB London series will take place when the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies go head-to-head in England’s capital.

    London Stadium will host two matches between the sides in what will be the third time the sport has been taken to Britain after previous series in 2019 and last year.

    Utley, who helped Philadelphia claim 2008 World Series success, said: “You’ll have the Phillies and Mets, two fantastic teams, two rivals in the same division.

    “They’ve been rivals for around like 70 years and you’ll see some of the best players in the world.

    “You’ll see fireworks, activities on the field in between innings, live music, you’ll have American-standard baseball food, which consists of hotdogs, nachos and burgers!

    “Overall, it’s just a fantastic experience.”

    Utley was in Brent Cross last week at The 108, a state-of-the-art dedicated indoor baseball facility, and put England white-ball captain Jos Buttler through his paces before he learned some of the key principles of cricket.

     

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by Jos Buttler (@josbuttler)

     

    The sporting crossover occurred due to cricket heading across the pond this summer when the T20 World Cup is hosted in America and West Indies during the same time of the latest MLB London series.

    Former second baseman Utley retired in 2018 and splits his time between the United States and his new London home as part of his ambassador role for MLB Europe.

    The 45-year-old feels cricket is slowly starting to break through in the USA, adding: “It’s probably as much as baseball penetrates here in the UK, so a bit, yes.

    “Here, obviously football, from what I’ve seen in a short amount of time, is the sport that for sure everyone watches and then cricket is second place to that.

    “In America, you have American Football and then you have basketball or you have baseball that are kind of bounced back and forth.

    “It’s exciting to see that cricket is going to the United States to play because I’ve seen some amateurs playing in the park. You’re starting to see it more and more over the last few years that I was there.”

    The next goal for Utley is to actually watch a cricket match live after brushing up his knowledge with Buttler last Wednesday when the meaning of ‘Bazball’ alongside the difference between Test and white-ball cricket was discussed.

    “I’ve watched a fair share but I still haven’t seen it in person,” Utley said.

    “At some point I need to see it in person. I’ve watched it on TV and it took me a little while, but I imagine it’s the same for watching baseball.

    “It takes you a while to understand the nuances, the terminology and actually what is going on in the moment, but once you can wrap your head around it and make some sense, it’s very entertaining.”

    New York Mets will play Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2024 on June 8-9 at London Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.co.uk/MLB

  • Giants sign LHP Blake Snell for two years, $62M Giants sign LHP Blake Snell for two years, $62M

    The San Francisco Giants and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell have agreed to a two-year contract worth $62million, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

    Snell will reportedly have the ability to opt out of the deal after one season and become a free agent again.

    The left-hander won his second career Cy Young last season with the San Diego Padres after going 14-9 with a league-leading 2.25 ERA.

    Snell, 31, won the AL Cy Young in 2018 after going 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA for the Tampa Bay Rays.

    Singing Snell is the latest move in a busy offseason for the Giants as they try to catch up with their biggest rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the NL West.

    Earlier this offseason, the Giants spent over $250million in free agency to acquire South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee, third baseman Matt Chapman, right-hander Jordan Hicks and slugging outfielder Jorge Soler.

    In January, San Francisco traded for left-handed starter Robbie Ray, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and could pitch later in 2024.

    In 191 career starts, Snell is 71-55 with a 3.20 ERA and has 1,223 strikeouts in 992.2 innings pitched.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.