Just as the Twins tie for AL Central lead, here come the Yankees

Since 2002, the Twins are 13-50 at Yankee Stadium.
Just as the Twins tie for AL Central lead, here come the Yankees
Just as the Twins tie for AL Central lead, here come the Yankees /

Whoever wrote the script for the 2022 MLB season must get a kick out of torturing Minnesota fans because just as the Twins move back into a tie with the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central, here come the New York Yankees. 

To prove themselves worthy of the playoffs, the Twins begin the final 30-game stretch of the season with four games in their personal baseball dungeon: Yankee Stadium, where they are 13-50 since 2002. 

And the script writer must be a Yankees fan because just when the Yankees need a break, here come the Minnesota Twins – the personal punching bag of the Bronx Bombers for the past 18 years. 

If you take every game between the Twins and Yankees since 2002, the Twins are 37-96 – a .278 winning percentage that would translate to a 45-117 record over a full season. The worst record in a 162-game schedule in MLB history is 43-119, set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers. So yes, the Twins are basically the worst team in MLB history when they face the Yankees. 

Is there ever a good time for the Twins to face the Yankees? No. Never. 

But, if there ever was such a time, this is it because New York has collapsed with just 19 wins in their last 50 games, watching their 15 1/2-game lead in the AL East fall to five, giving hope to the Rays and Blue Jays in what once looked like a forgone conclusion. 

The last time we wrote about the Twins facing the Yankees it was early June and the Yankees were on pace to win 117 games. Now they'll be lucky to reach 100. Things have changed with New York, but until Minnesota can get the Concrete Jungle off their back ... it's just another day waiting for an inevitable disappointment. 

Putting more pressure on the Twins is that while they're facing the Yankees, the Guardians are in Kansas City for three games against the out-of-contention Royals.

You see where this is going...

If the Guardians take care of business like they should in KC, all the pressure is on the Twins to come up with answers in New York to avoid falling behind Cleveland entering the pivotal stretch of September when the Twins and Guardians play each other eight times from Sept. 9-20. 

Game 1 of the four-game set in the Bronx starts at noon Monday. 


Published
Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.