The Twins failed to capitalize on their opportunities
While the Yankees were able to capitalize on their opportunities, the Twins were not so fortunate. Of the Twins four runs, three of them came on solo home runs and outside of Polanco’s fifth-inning double that tied the game at three, the Twins couldn’t be found with a searchlight in clutch situations.
One of the biggest wasted opportunities occurred in the second inning when LeMahieu dropped an easy pop up off the bat of Cron, which left the Twins with runners on first and second with one out. With an opportunity to extend on their early 1-0 lead, Arraez would ground into a crucial double play that would kill the rally and keep the game within striking distance for the Yankees.
After the Yankees took that opportunity to eventually get a lead, the Twins would get their lone hit with a runner in scoring position with the Polanco single, but would leave Polanco and Cruz on base when Eddie Rosario decided to hack away on the first pitch in a lineout to center field, leaving more potential runs on the basepaths.
Just one (or maybe even two) of these hits could have made this a much different ballgame, but again, the Twins anxiousness to make a play cost them an opportunity to kick the Yankees while they were down.