The only silver lining for the Yankees on Sunday was that it could’ve been worse.
They were facing a Tyler Duffey perfect game bid until Aaron Hicks’ two-out double in the sixth inning saved them from utter embarrassment. Even still, the Yankees’ 7-1 home loss to the major-league worst Twins, who hit six home runs, was one of the ugliest defeats of the season.
Duffey had been one of the worst pitchers in the majors this year but made the Yankees (37-37) look completely inept, giving up one run on two hits in eight innings, while Nathan Eovaldi continued his horrible June by falling apart in the sixth inning, during which he gave up four runs on three homers, all after walking Joe Mauer with two outs. Add in the solo homer he gave up in the third and Eovaldi finished six innings with five earned runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
“It just seems like he lost his stuff,” Joe Girardi said.
The Yanks failed to get to two games over .500 for the first time since they were 4-2.
Eovaldi (6-5) left a crushable splitter over the plate to Brian Dozier, a slider to Trevor Plouffe and a curveball to Max Kepler for three consecutive homers after the Mauer walk. The four total home runs he gave up were a career-high.
“They say no leadoff walks and no two-out walks, and I believe in that,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like 2-1 then 3-1 and 3-2, just got to put him away, challenge him and not let Dozier get to the plate.”
He’s now allowed 17 homers this season, which already represents the worst mark of his career. He has a 5.19 ERA for the season and will finish June with an 8.65 ERA in five starts, during which he’s given up 10 homers and 38 hits in 26 innings. He’s allowed at least five runs in four of those five starts and was the only Yankees pitcher to lose during last weekend’s four-game series at Minnesota (24-51.)
That troubling trend came after Eovaldi appeared to be establishing some consistency in May. He finished last month with a 3.25 ERA in six starts. After a six-run, 10-hit clunker on May 1, he allowed more than two runs just once in his other five May starts. In each of his last three starts in May, Eovaldi went six innings and didn’t allow more than one run.
Girardi had no issue with all three home runs in the sixth coming against off-speed pitches. Location, not pitch selection, was the problem.
“I think if you execute your pitch, a lot of times no matter what pitch you throw it’s probably not gonna be a home run,” the manager said.
Catcher Brian McCann, however, second-guessed himself after each of the home runs.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You second-guess any hit. It’s baseball. Tip your hat. They didn’t miss the pitches they got.”
Luis Cessa, who was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game as Nick Goody was optioned, gave up a solo homer to ex-Yankee Eduardo Nunez in the seventh. Kirby Yates allowed the last home run to Juan Centeno in the ninth.
Duffey (3-6) entered Sunday’s affair with a 9.17 ERA over his previous seven starts, and yet he looked like an ace against the Yanks. After Hicks’ double, Duffey allowed an inconsequential homer to Mark Teixeira in the eighth inning, his last. He finished with eight strikeouts, the first of which didn’t come until the fourth inning. After Teixeira’s home run he struck out Starlin Castro, Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley, all swinging at curveballs.
The right-hander is the first visiting pitcher to give up two or fewer hits and pitch at least eight innings at the Stadium since the Rays’ Chris Archer did it in 2013.
McCann, who was 0-for-3, said he wasn’t surprised by Duffey’s seemingly out-of-nowhere dominance.
“He had it going today” he said. “You get 30 starts a year, you’re gonna have a handful of starts where you can put the ball wherever you want.”
