MINNESOTA — The 12 months is 2023, and Sonny Gray and Joey Gallo are nonetheless hurting the Yankees.
The distinction now could be that the 2 are sporting Twins uniforms as a substitute of pinstripes. Gray and Gallo flopped throughout their respective stints within the Bronx, however they exacted some revenge on Monday at Target Field in a 6-1 win for Minnesota.
Gray continued his scorching begin to the season, dealing for seven innings. The right-hander restricted the Yankees to 3 hits, and he struck out eight whereas strolling two over 107 pitches. He additionally lowered his ERA to a microscopic 0.62.
“Spinning it,” Aaron Boone stated when requested what made Gray so tough. “It’s what he does so properly. He combined in sufficient of his sinker to maintain us sincere. But whether or not it was cutter, breaking ball, slider, he was on high of it. But we gotta have the ability make that adjustment.
“Sonny’s throwing the ball great. He’s off to a great start.”
Gallo, in the meantime, hit his sixth dwelling run in his thirteenth recreation for the Twins after signing with them over the offseason. The fourth-inning solo shot off Greg Weissert was a no-doubter.
“He’s obviously got a ton of power,” Boone stated of Gallo earlier than the sport. “He’s already hit some home runs this year. He’s a guy that typically controls the strike zone. So I don’t think it’s surprising to us necessarily that he’s having some success here.”
Gallo nor Gray skilled a lot success in New York.
Gallo spent 140 video games with the Yankees from 2021-22 after they acquired him in a commerce with the Rangers. But his all-or-nothing method by no means discovered the relative stability that made him a two-time All-Star in Texas, because the outfielder/first baseman slashed .159/.291/.368 with 25 homers, 46 RBI, 77 walks and 194 strikeouts.
Yankees followers booed Gallo typically final season, and the group dealt him to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Clayton Beeter in August.
Gray, in the meantime, joined the Yankees in a July 2017 commerce with the Athletics. A frontline starter in Oakland, he recorded a 4.51 ERA over 195.2 innings with the Yanks. Gray was demoted to the bullpen towards the top of 2018, and the Yankees flipped him to the Reds that winter.
Cincinnati traded Gray to the Twins in March 2022.
“You pitch against a former team, it always has a little bit of a bigger meaning,” Gray stated after Monday’s win. “You always feel a little bit different going against those teams. But having said that, we need to focus on us.”
Gallo didn’t seem by his locker earlier than or after the sport when the Twins’ clubhouse was open to reporters.
While the 2 ex-Yankees grabbed headlines, the Bombers’ struggling offense can be commanding consideration. The lineup has scored lower than 4 runs in 9 of the final 11 video games. The Yankees have crossed the plate simply six occasions since placing up 9 runs on April 20.
“We’re the Yankees,” Boone stated, “and we gotta find a way to do a little better than that.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com