In a great irony on this 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, it was the Yankees who assumed the role of the British.
A group composed of more established professionals with better resources and better pay was nonetheless outwilled and upended July 4, when the underdog Twins provided far more fireworks.
The Yankees were 11-4 losers in The Bronx on a sweltering Saturday in front of 40,156, many of whom removed and swung their shirts late trying to inspire the home team — which coincided with a four-run Twins eighth inning that drained any drama remaining in the Stadium.
The Yankees were buried early by call-up Brendan Beck and late by Camilo Doval, the pair combining to give up four of six Minnesota home runs and nine runs (five earned) in 4 ²/₃ innings.
As has become a trend during this slide, the Yankees were down immediately. This time Beck — a 2021 second-round pick making his second career major league appearance — allowed three runs in the first (in which he began with a walk, double and home run) and two more in the second.
The injury replacement for Carlos Rodón only learned Friday that he would be pitching Saturday. He was called up, lit up, then sent down after the game.
“Put us in a hole early, making the defense stand out there for a long time in the first,” said Beck, who lasted 3 ²/₃ innings in which he served up five runs on three homers. “Taking the crowd out of it. Not the way you want to start the game on an exciting day at the yard.”
With commemorative patches on a sleeve and the numbers on their backs given a red, white and blue makeover, the Yankees looked a bit different, but they played like the same team that has spiraled for weeks.
Aaron Boone & Co. (49-39) have lost eight of nine and 11 of 14. Their offense has been ailing and awful, having scored just 46 runs in their past 16 games. They have not scored more than five runs in a game since all the way back June 17.
On Friday they welcomed back Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon, both of whom played roles in snapping a skid, but a day later the attack stalled in the game’s biggest moments.
The Yankees did climb some of the way back from a 6-0 hole, but Doval’s flop in the eighth and the offense going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position ensured they could not complete the comeback.
“With the lineup that we have, I feel like we’re more than capable [of escaping early holes],” said Max Schuemann, whose two-run homer in the fifth paired with Cody Bellinger’s RBI double brought the Yankees within 6-4. “We’ve put up 10 runs in one inning at one point this year. … I know what we’re capable of.”
The Yankees did have life in the middle innings. Jasson Domínguez put a dent into the deficit with a solo home run in the fourth. The Yankees sent eight hitters to the plate in a three-run fifth.
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But that inning ended with Domínguez stranding two. They threatened again in the sixth, when Anthony Volpe (single), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (beautiful bunt single) and Schuemann (walk) loaded the bases with one out.
But a pair of pinch hitters — Amed Rosario against righty Travis Adams and Paul Goldschmidt against lefty Taylor Rogers — could not come through in the Yankees’ last and best chance to steal the game.
Manager Aaron Boone turned to Goldschmidt, a lefty masher, despite his entering the at-bat in an 0-for-20 slide.
“I’m going to take Goldie against the lefty there, two outs with them loaded,” Boone said. “Our shot to really grab the game.”
Life was extinguished in the eighth, when Doval entered a game the Yankees were trailing 7-4 and could not pitch around a Chisholm error that opened the inning.
The Twins sent seven men to the plate and scored four runs on a Byron Buxton sacrifice fly, Clemens single and Josh Bell’s second home run of the afternoon.
The Tarps Off crew quickly lost enthusiasm, the revolutions per minute of their shirts fading.
