Bartolo Colon was the story of the night, "a character of the game," as manager Paul Molitor described him before the game, and you have to think that at least some of the large crowd of 33,114 was here just to see the ballplayer nicknamed "Big Sexy."
But Colon, whose debut started well but had an unhappy ending, really wasn't the reason the Twins lost. That responsibility more properly belongs to Twins hitters, who were terrific in mounting threats against Yankees pitching, and pathetic about converting them.
Minnesota left 12 runners on base, but it was worse than that: The Twins left six of those runners on third base. But it was worse than that: five times that runner reached third base with less than two outs.
"We failed on every opportunity," Molitor groused. "Those are the things you need to do if you expect to win those games."
The Twins scored in the first inning when New York starter Luis Cessa walked in a run, but Eddie Rosario struck out with the bases loaded to end the threat. Max Kepler hit a one-out double in the second inning, but two ground outs stranded him. Brian Dozier knocked in Jason Castro with a triple in the fourth, but stood there watching Zack Granite and Joe Mauer ground out to end the inning.
"We're missing some pitches to take advantage of," Molitor said.
Miguel Sano's leadoff double and Kepler's single gave the Twins another great chance in the fifth, but strikeouts by Robbie Grossman and Rosario and a popup by Jorge Polanco neutered that threat. And when Dellin Betances loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning, the crowd was roaring, sensing a big rally. But Granite flew to center.
"It's a little different with two outs — you need a hit. A fly ball doesn't work," Molitor said. "But he's been putting together pretty good at-bats. He can handle velocity. It's just a tough order with Betances and [Aroldis] Chapman at the end."
