NEW YORK — You can't blame Rocco Baldelli for trying something different. The Twins' long and ignominious history at Yankee Stadium has stained the franchise for years, so why not enlist some innocents for the challenge?
Or maybe the manager was just out of options.
Short on rested arms, the Twins handed an opportunity Thursday to three pitchers who were not even on the roster two months ago, let alone who suffered through any of the team's 2-17 horror show (including playoffs) in this park over the past seven years. And the result — a pro-forma 7-5 loss to the Yankees, who have won seven consecutive games to charge into the AL wild-card lead — was sort of … encouraging?
Well, that's probably too strong a word. But Baldelli was notably upbeat about the loss, given the Twins' early 6-0 deficit and entrusting the pitching to three baseball nomads and journeymen.
"We battled back. We put some runs on the board. Had a few good at-bats," Baldelli said earnestly. "Honestly, by the last couple innings, we were an at-bat and a swing away from tying the ballgame and maybe even winning a ballgame like that."
OK, the Twins have made a habit lately of winning games against expectations. And they had a couple of bright spots, too, most notably Jake Cave's first career home run against the team that drafted and developed and traded him, Miguel Sano's home run for his newborn daughter, and Jorge Polanco's nonstop clutch hitting, which produced runs for the sixth consecutive game, three of them this time. So maybe there is an oasis to be found this weekend in the Bronx, the Twins' baseball desert.
"We're catching these guys at a time where they're pretty hot, but so are we. We're going to give them everything we have and see what happens," Baldelli said. "I like what I've seen from our guys lately, that's for sure."
John Gant, who has hoped to escape the bullpen and rejoin a rotation, had two good innings as an audition, then surrendered two doubles and a triple in a four-run third.
