NEW YORK — Maybe it was the way the lineup was constructed or how his teammates swung the bat in the cage before the game. Perhaps it was the 86-degree temperature at first pitch or the outward-blowing breeze at Yankee Stadium.
Whatever the reason, Twins shortstop Carlos Correa felt compelled to pull aside pitcher Cole Sands before Thursday evening’s game. He wanted the little-used rookie long reliever to be prepared to pitch because he expected a big offensive output against the New York Yankees.
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Correa didn’t mention anything to Sands about completing the task in the first inning.
Launched by a nine-run, first-inning outburst, the Twins rocked the Yankees 11-2 in front of 39,024 to continue an impressive 9-4 start. Rookie Edouard Julien led the way as the Twins sent 13 batters to the plate and blasted three consecutive homers in the biggest first inning against New York since July 18, 2000. The seven earned runs surrendered by New York pitcher Jhony Brito, who recorded only two outs before departing, were the most allowed by a Yankees starter who didn’t make it out of the first inning since June 16, 2015 (Nathan Eovaldi).
“I told Cole Sands before the game, ‘Hey, get ready to pitch today because we’re going to score 10 runs,’” Correa said. “I didn’t expect them to come in the first inning. … After the game he was like, ‘You told me and I was ready to go.’ I was like, ‘Holy s—.’ I was in the cage and saw how guys were swinging the bats, and I knew it was going to be one of those days.”
There are few days like this in recent Twins-Yankees lore. When they do occur, it’s almost always in favor of New York, which has won 116 of 157 meetings (.739) between the teams since 2002, postseason play included.
Yet Thursday’s series opener was lopsided enough that Yankees utility man — and Twin-for-a-day — Isiah Kiner-Falefa unleashed a 38-mph pitch during his ninth-inning outing and then begged plate ump D.J. Reyburn to check his hands for sticky substances.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was ready to undergo a foreign substance check from the umpires 😂pic.twitter.com/pnvpSMXAgY
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 14, 2023
“Nights like this are going to happen in baseball,” Brito said. “It’s how you come back.”
With the way things tend to transpire between these teams over the past two decades, Twins fans are understandably always in fear of New York roaring back to life.
The Twins offense made sure it wouldn’t happen Thursday.
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What began as a promising inning suddenly morphed into an impressive showing before devolving into outright chaos. Batting leadoff in his second big-league game, Julien started it all when he ripped a 104.4 mph one-hopper off the right-field fence for a long single.
Making his first appearance after sitting out four games with back spasms, Correa’s single into shallow left was temporarily held up after second-base umpire Nate Tomlinson ruled Julien out at second, a call that replay overturned.
“I thought I was safe,” Julien said. “But I didn’t know how to act. I was safe, but I didn’t know if I should stay on the bag or go off the field.”
He wouldn’t be on the field much longer. Byron Buxton followed with the first of two walks he drew in the inning to load the bases, and Trevor Larnach’s sacrifice fly to deep center put the Twins ahead 1-0.
Jose Miranda was next as he hit a steamroller into the right-field gap to score two runs, including Buxton, who raced around from first. Donovan Solano drove in Miranda with the first of his two doubles to make it a four-run lead.
Miranda splits a gap and delivers!!!
3-0 #MNTwins! 💪 💪 pic.twitter.com/H6ZsaKI04g— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 13, 2023
“It was crazy just watching the lineup go up and down, everyone crushing balls,” Miranda said. “Throughout the night, we had a whole lot of good at-bats.”
Brito thought a key to the early outpouring was the Twins’ patience, which forced him back in the strike zone.
Successful in his first two starts, Brito, 25, made team history by becoming the first Yankees pitcher to throw at least five innings, allow three or fewer hits and surrender one or fewer runs in both outings. Brito made such an impression that there was chatter he could become the team’s fifth starter when Carlos Rodón and Luis Severino return to action, pushing out both Domingo Germán and Clarke Schmidt.
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But when Brito was forced to throw strikes Thursday, the Twins didn’t miss.
“They were jumping on every single mistake,” catcher Kyle Higashioka said.
One out later, Christian Vázquez continued the hit parade when he ripped a 2-0 sinker down the middle to deep center field for a run-scoring double.
And then it got worse for the Yankees and better for the Twins.
Even after he fell behind 0-2 in the count, Twins No. 9 hitter Michael A. Taylor took advantage when Brito left a 97 mph sinker up and over the middle. He deposited it beyond the center-field wall for a seven-run lead.
𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙀 𝙄𝙎 𝙈𝙄𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙀𝙇 𝘼. 𝙏𝘼𝙔𝙇𝙊𝙍 💣 💣 #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/l4JLX4ftJE
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 13, 2023
The homer ended Brito’s night after only 36 pitches, his earned-run average increasing from a near-pristine 0.90 to 6.75.
“This is unfortunately part of the game,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You get punched in the mouth in this game. He’s equipped to handle that.”
Though it was only his second day in the majors, Julien provided more evidence he’s prepared for the big stage. An increasingly aggressive hitter with a good eye, Julien put enough of a charge into a high 1-1 cutter from reliever Colten Brewer to drive it out to left for an 8-0 lead.
Correa also got in the act when he drove a 2-2 cutter from Brewer out to right for a solo homer. Correa finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
“I’ve never been part of a game where a first inning has gone like that,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan was in unfamiliar territory, as well. Warm when he left the bullpen before the 7:10 p.m. first pitch, Ryan found different ways to stay hot during the Twins’ 28-minute first inning. Not only did he jump around inside the clubhouse and stretch, Ryan threw a plyo ball against the wall several times.
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He needed it as Buxton followed Correa’s homer with a walk to keep the inning alive. The team’s longest frame of the young season finally ended when Larnach flew out to left.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to pitch today,” Ryan said with a smile. “They kept hitting the ball. It’s fun to watch. Really good at-bats. Staying competitive and, yeah, just going out there and you’ve just got to throw strikes after that. So go fill up the zone.”
Working with a big lead, Ryan pounded the strike zone. He threw strikes on 69 of 92 pitches and never allowed the Yankees to entertain the idea they could rally.
Not only did Ryan spot his fastball well, he got 10 swings-and-misses with his four-seamer en route to retiring the first 11 Yankees hitters. Before New York even reached base, the Twins had extended their advantage to 11-0 in the third inning when Vázquez doubled ahead of another two-run homer from Taylor.
Anthony Rizzo ruined Ryan’s shutout when he homered with two outs in the fourth inning. But Ryan didn’t allow anyone else to reach second base. He continued a strong start to his second season by limiting New York to a run and three hits while striking out 10 in seven innings.
“You play your game and try to scratch runs and try to get a big inning to get us back in it,” said Rizzo, who hit a pair of solo homers. “It didn’t happen.”
What did happen? Correa’s prediction came true, of course.
Sands followed Ryan and took over in the eighth inning, his first appearance since April 3. Though he’s been in the majors since Opening Day, the Twins’ dominant starting pitching has left Sands with little to do.
But inactivity didn’t prevent Sands from retiring the side in order in the eighth inning. He struck out fellow rookie Anthony Volpe on a 3-2 splitter to end the frame and started the ninth inning with a strikeout of Gleyber Torres before Rizzo touched him for a solo homer with two outs.
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But that was as close as the Yankees got on an evening unlike any Correa could recall being a part of in the Bronx.
“Never,” Correa said. “Yankee Stadium? First inning like that? I mean, that was crazy. We had a blast doing that. It was a lot of fun.”
(Photo of Christian Vazquez and Michael A. Taylor celebrating Taylor’s first-inning homer: Adam Hunger / Associated Press)