The New York Yankees already have secured a playoff spot.
Now they’re striving for a sweep.
New York (88-63) will go for a three-game sweep against the Minnesota Twins (70-81) when the teams face off Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis. The Yankees have won three straight games, including back-to-back contests against the Twins.
Yankees slugger Cody Bellinger praised young teammate Spencer Jones, 25, after Jones hit a three-run homer in an 8-1 rout on Tuesday night.
“He’s been amazing,” Bellinger said. “His swing is a really good swing. Mentally, he understands what he wants to do against them. He understands what he needs to do against them.
“Righty-lefty on the mound, he doesn’t seem fazed. He has a good approach, he knows where he wants his body and his swing to be, and he’s swinging right now.”
The Twins have lost three games in a row and five of their past six. They have 11 games remaining in the regular season and would need to win all of those contests to reach .500.
Rookie Emmanuel Rodriguez has provided a bright spark as the season winds down. He has four RBIs in his first four big-league games, including an RBI on Tuesday night.
Minnesota shortstop Kaelen Culpepper might miss Wednesday’s contest because of soreness in his left hamstring, an ailment that forced him to leave Tuesday’s game.
“What he told me was that he felt it the first move out of the box,” manager Derek Shelton said. “So we’ll get an MRI in the morning and see where he’s at.”
The Yankees plan to send out left-hander Carlos Rodon (6-3, 2.94 ERA) for his 15th start. Rodon will try for his third straight victory after holding off the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets in his most recent outings.
Rodon allowed only two runs (one earned) on three hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-4 victory against the Mets on Friday.
This will be Rodon’s 17th career appearance against the Twins. In his first 16 games (15 starts), he is 9-4 with a 3.93 ERA and has walked 31 and struck out 97 in 89 1/3 innings.
Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (9-10, 4.98 ERA) will oppose the Yankees. He has lost his past two starts, including his most recent time out against the Detroit Tigers in a game in which he gave up five runs over 2 1/3 innings in a 7-2 defeat last Wednesday.
Matthews has faced the Yankees three times in his career, going 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA, and has walked seven and struck out 16 in 13 1/3 innings.
For the Yankees on Tuesday, Heliot Ramos went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
“It’s hard to not play every day,” Bellinger said. “To get in there and face a baseball coming at you. He’s just done a tremendous job. He’s done a great job in right field. He brings energy every day in the locker room as well. It’s just fun to be around him, and today was good for him, for sure.”
–Field Level Media
