LeMahieu, Yankees torment Twins again, 10-4 in ALDS opener
NEW YORK — DJ LeMahieu homered and drove in four runs, Gleyber Torres broke a tie with a two-run double and the New York Yankees extended their October mastery of the Minnesota Twins with a 10-4 victory Friday night in the AL Division Series opener.
Aaron Judge made two diving catches in right field as the AL East champions handed Minnesota its major league-record 14th consecutive playoff defeat — 11 of them to the Yankees since 2004. The second grab thwarted a potential rally and left grateful reliever Zack Britton with both hands on his head to end the top of the seventh, when the Twins were still within striking distance.
Brett Gardner also went deep for the Bronx Bombers in a playoff matchup between teams that finished neck-and-neck this year for the most home runs in baseball history. Minnesota’s Bomba Squad socked 307, one more than New York as both clubs blew away the previous mark of 267 set by the Yankees last year.
But in the 14th post-season meeting of 100-win teams, it was more of the same Yankees dominance against the Twins — even though many of Minnesota’s players and coaches weren’t around for most of it.