New York Yankees come close but can't come back on the Minnesota Twins

The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. Hiroki Kuroda started and got off to a miserable start and wasn’t able to recover. He pitched better after that but it was a little too late. The Yankees bullpen pitched well and the offense did ok although they stranded too many runners once again. Mark Teixeira has started to come around and Derek Jeter continues to hit. 
Kuroda pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 10 hits and six runs with four strikeouts. Clay Rapada pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk with two strikeouts, Boone Logan pitched two innings giving up one hit and one walk with four strikeouts and Rafael Soriano pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Jason Marquis picked up the win pitching five innings and giving up seven hits and four runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Brian Duensing pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits, Jared Burton pitched 1 1/3 innings striking out two and Matt Capps earned his third save by pitching an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout.

Jeter had three hits and an RBI, Curtis Granderson drew a walk and Teixeira had two hits. Robinson Cano had two hits and two RBI, Nick Swisher had a hit and two RBI and Raul Ibanez had two hits. Andruw Jones drew a walk, Eric Chavez had a hit. Cano had a double and a homerun, Jeter hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Denard Span had a hit, Jamey Carroll had a hit and an RBI and Joe Mauer had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Josh Willingham had a hit, Justin Morneau had three hits and three RBI with a walk and a strikeout and Chris Parmelee had two hits and drew a walk. Sean Burroughs had a hit and an RBI and Alexi Casilla had three hits. Carroll, Mauer, Parmelee, Casilla and Willingham each had a double. Morneau had two homeruns. The Twins were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Casilla had a stolen base.

The Twins scored four runs in the first inning and the Yankees three. The first three Twins got hits and the first four out of five. It was a single and two RBI doubles in a row before Morneau hit a homerun to make it 4-0. Cano had an RBI double and Swisher a two run single in the first to make it 4-3. In the third Burroughs had an RBI single to push the lead to 5-3 Twins. Cano hit a solo homerun in the third to make it 5-4. Morneau hit a solo homerun in the fifth to make it 6-4 and Jeter hit a solo homerun in the ninth to cut the lead to 6-5 but that was the final score. The game ended when Teixeira just missed hitting a homerun, he flew out to the warning track in right field.

The Twins have won two out of the first three in this series. The series will conclude on Thursday night with Phil Hughes on the mound. The Twins have seemed to get over their Yankee stadium demons in this series. Kuroda pitched great in the home opener last Friday but wasn’t good today and wasn’t very good in his first start. The Yankees pitching has not been good up to this point and Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda are looming in the minor leagues.

Yankees vs. Twins Pregame

Here are the lineups for tonights Yankees/Twins game and a few notes.  The Yankees evened up the four game series with an 8-3 win last night.  The Twins won the first game on Monday night.  Hiroki Kuroda will start against Jason Marquis. 

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher(DH), Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez(3B), Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.

Twins Lineup:Denard Span, Jamey Carroll, Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, Chris Parmelee, Sean Burroughs, Clete Thomas, Alexi Casilla.

Marquis is making his first career start against the Yankees.  He was a Yankees fan growing up in Staten Island, New York.  It is also his first start of the season, he was held back because he missed two weeks of spring training to be with his daughter.  His daughter Reese story has gained a lot of attention.  She is seven years old and had an accident riding her bike, she was in sever condition but is recovering now. 

Robinson Cano is 4-23 in his last six games and only has 1 RBI on the season.  Morneau has a 452 career average at Yankee Stadium.  That is the highest for any American League park. 

The twins haven't won a season series from the Yankees since 2001.  They were 4-2 against them that season.  The Yankees are 52-19 against them since then including 29-6 at both Yankee stadiums.