The New York Yankees have been the best team in all of baseball this season.
They’ve opened up a seven-game lead in the American League East over the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays and look to be running away with the division.
We’ve talked about how the “Evil Empire” is back in full force this season.
But just because it’s back doesn’t mean that it’s invincible, and last night they came back down to Earth a little with their 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
ESPN’s Marly Rivera tweeted that the team posted a -7-run differential in last night’s game, which is their worst of the season.
.@ESPNStatsInfo: #Yankees -7 run differential tonight is their worst in a game this season, hadn't lost a game by more than 5 runs entering the day. For the #MNTwins, it's their 14th game this season scoring 8+ runs, the most in MLB (6th win by 7 runs or more, T-3rd most in MLB)
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) June 9, 2022
Yanks Come Back Down To Earth
Even the best teams have the occasional hiccup.
Such was the case for the Yankees last night, as Nestor Cortes had a rare clunker, going 4.1 innings while allowing four runs.
It was bound to happen sometime, and it happened last night.
Rivera also mentioned in her tweet that the Yankees had not lost a game by five runs or more up to this point in the season and that this is the 14th time the Twins have scored eight or more runs in a game, which is the most in baseball.
The only real highlights of the game for the Bronx Bombers were DJ LeMahieu‘s sacrifice fly and Aaron Hicks‘ arm.
Hicks managed to nab his ex-teammate Gio Urshela at the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Other than that, there wasn’t much to cheer about for the Yankees and their fans on Wednesday.
The two teams play a rubber game tonight, with Gerrit Cole squaring off against Dylan Bundy.
Cole is 5-1 with a 2.78 ERA this season.
NEXT: Miguel Andujar Is Staying Professional For Now