They may no longer be able to count on just that.
The Twins broke that spell last year, winning the season series against the Yankees for the first time since 2001, the year Anthony Volpe was born, and are now entering this season’s opener as the hottest team in baseball.
Entering the three-game series that begins Tuesday at Target Field, the Twins have won 17 of their last 20 games, led by a 12-game winning streak in which they defeated the White Sox, Angels and Red Sox.
And since then, they’ve also won series against the Mariners and Blue Jays, and appear poised to give the Yankees a formidable challenge this week.
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Meanwhile, the Yankees have won seven of their last nine games and 10 of their first 13 series to reach 12 games over .500, higher than at any time last season, when their high was 11 games above .500. on June 4.
Aaron Judge’s two-run homer on Sunday was his fourth in the last seven games and seventh in the last 18 as he continues to break out of his slow start and look more like Aaron Judge.
“That’s inevitable,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Carlos Correa and the Twins have won 17 of their last 20 games. Keynote USA
After hitting .174 with a .645 OPS in his first 23 games, Judge is hitting .313 with a 1.147 OPS in his last 19 games.
Even his outs during the Rays series were loud.
For the first time, MLB’s Baseball Savant released data on bat speed on Monday, and topping the list was Giancarlo Stanton.
The Yankees slugger has lost some production over the years but still leads all major league players with an average bat speed of 80.6 mph.
Two other Yankees, Judge (76.5) and Juan Soto (76.1), ranked in the top 10.
Alex Verdugo has the 12th slowest bat speed at 67.4 mph but makes up for it by having the third shortest swing.
The All-Star break just got (potentially) a little longer for the Yankees.
Their July 14 game against the Orioles in Baltimore, the last before the break, was moved up to 11:35 a.m. as part of MLB’s new Sunday morning deal with Roku. … The Yankees stayed in Tampa on Sunday night, allowing their players who have homes in the area an extra night with their families, before flying to Minnesota on Monday, a day off.
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