Tyler Duffey’s struggles continued on Tuesday night as a three-run homer by Anthony Rizzo helped the New York Yankees earn a 10-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins.
Duffey’s latest meltdown came in the seventh inning as the Twins trailed 5-4. After battling their way back from a 3-0 deficit, Minnesota was looking to stay in the game and Duffey obliged by getting the first two outs.
The third out was an issue, however, as Duffey allowed a single to DJ Lemahieu After intentionally walking Aaron Judge, Duffey fell behind in the count to Rizzo, who smashed a hanging curveball off the facing of the right-field grandstand to blow the game open.
A BIG insurance blast from @ARizzo44. đź’Ş
(MLB x @oriswatches) pic.twitter.com/2HSJ6SHK4Y
— MLB (@MLB) June 8, 2022
The homer was demoralizing as the Twins clawed their way back after Cole Sands allowed a pair of moonshots to Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the first inning. Jorge Polanco led the charge, going 4-for-5 with his seventh home run of the season and Luis Arraez went 2-for-4 to raise his AL-leading batting average to .361.
The Twins didn’t have the horses to complete the comeback, however, and the decision to use Duffey in another high-leverage situation was a big reason why. The right-hander has allowed nine runs in his last 4.2 innings and his latest performance raised his season ERA to 6.55.
Duffey wasn’t the only culprit as Juan Minaya walked in a run in the fifth inning and the Yankees scored a pair of runs off Trevor Megill in the eighth, but Duffey is relied upon as one of their top relievers and Tuesday’s performance continues a troubling trend this season.
For now, the Twins will look to rebound tomorrow night when Chris Archer takes the mound against AL ERA leader Nestor Cortes Jr.
