Why the Twins are the Yankees' cheat code for playoffs success

The Twins' inability to beat the Yankees in the playoffs somehow looks worse when compared to New York's record against everybody else in the postseason.

May 15, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) warms up against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Yankees' World Series drought has reached 16 years and counting after they were eliminated by the Blue Jays on Wednesday night in the ALDS. It is the third-longest title drought in that franchise's history.

Must be rough.

So why are we at Twins on SI covering this? Well firstly because HA THE YANKEES LOST, but also because the Yankees' success "drought" would look a whole lot uglier were it not for your Minnesota Twins.

KFAN's Dan Barreiro tweet comparing the records on Wednesday got us interested. Following the Yankee's playoff exit, Barreiro posted, "Yankees post-season winning percentage since 2003: .889 (16-2) against Twins, .440 (56-71) against everybody else."

Yankees post-season winning percentage since 2003: .889 (16-2) against Twins, .440 (56-71) against everybody else.

— Dan Barreiro (@DanBarreiroKFAN) October 9, 2025

After diving through Baseball-Reference, and compiling the numbers, those percentages are indeed accurate. After sifting through the numbers a little more, the extent to which the Yankees dominate the Twins, compared to when they play anybody else, stands out even more.

Here's how Yankees have fared against all other playoff opponents since 2003:

Teams	Wins	Losses	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed
vs. Orioles	3	2	16	10
vs. Red Sox	10	12	100	109
vs. Guardians	13	8	108	88
vs. Tigers	3	10	48	58
vs. Astros	4	13	52	63
vs. Royals	3	1	14	12
vs. Angels	6	5	53	44
vs. Dodgers	1	4	24	25
vs. Marlins	2	4	21	17
vs. A's	1	0	7	2
vs. Phillies	4	2	32	27
vs. Rays	2	3	24	21
vs. Rangers	2	4	19	38
vs. Blue Jays	1	3	19	34
Totals	56	71	537	548

Now compare that to the Yankees' record against the Twins over the same period:

Team	Wins	Losses	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed
vs. Twins	16	2	100	47

In the 18 games the Yankees have played the Twins in postseason baseball since 2003, they have outscored Minnesota by 53 runs. In the 127 games when they've played any other team, they have been outscored by 11 runs.

The Yankees have scored an average of 5.56 runs per game when playing the Twins in the playoffs, against everybody else that number drops to 4.23. Meanwhile, they have allowed 4.31 runs per game, but when it's Minnesota bats, they only allow 2.61 runs per game.

When playing the Twins in the playoffs, the Yankees' bats suddenly mash everything and the pitching becomes unbeatable. Against everybody else though, New York is below average.

We got curious, so we wanted to see if the same can be said for the regular season play in that time. It's still a stark difference, but just slightly less egregious.

Since 2003, the Yankees have a .573 winning percentage against every other MLB team, scoring 5.04 runs per game and allowing 4.35 runs per game in that time frame. Against Minnesota, that shoots up to a .705 winning percentage, while scoring 5.52 runs per game and allowing 4.06 runs per game.

It goes without saying, and most Twins fans are well aware of it by this point, but it remains uncanny just how dominant the Yankees are against the Twins, no matter who Minnesota has in their lineup. New York only wishes they could play Minnesota every postseason game.