The Yankees’ stretch of dominance over the Minnesota Twins is old enough to legally drink alcohol.
There is no evidence to suggest it won’t continue on for another three years — until the age of renting a car without a youth surcharge.
Or another 13 years — until the age of eligibility to run for president of the United States.
Maybe it still will be ongoing in 2064 and reach the age to collect Social Security.
For 22 years and counting, the Yankees have beat up on the Twins to the tune of a 106-42 regular-season record (plus 16-2 in the playoffs).
In that time, the Yankees have thoroughly outscored (811-590 in runs), outhit (.824 to .700 in OPS) and outpitched (3.74 to 5.30 in ERA) the Twins (numbers were going into Wednesday night, a 9-5 victory led by Aaron Judge’s five RBIs and Carlos Rodon’s nine strikeouts).
It has been going on for so long that the Yankees lineup during the first win in the stretch, on May 10, 2002, included this forgettable bottom half of the lineup: Shane Spencer, Robin Ventura, Ron Coomer (pinch-hit for by John Vander Wal) and Rondell White.
The path to the Yankees’ last World Series title, not surprisingly, went through the Twins in 2009. Getty Images
Who is most responsible for making this series so lopsided? Sports+ decided to identify the biggest Twin killers, with help from Baseball Reference’s Stathead and FanGraphs (all stats going into Wednesday):
Batting average (minimum 40 plate appearances)
1. Francisco Cervelli (.410); 2. Bobby Abreu (.403); 3. Mark Teixeira (.376)
Surprise! A light-hitting backup catcher and a two-plus-year rental top the list ahead of all the big-name stars. What’s strange is Cervelli is probably most remembered in a Yankees-Twins game for committing a walk-off throwing error in a 2014 loss.
On-base percentage (minimum 40 plate appearances)
1. Aaron Judge (.476); 2. Abreu (.452); 3. Teixeira (.451)
If Aaron Judge is at the plate against the Twins, the odds are good he’ll soon be on base. AP
Judge concluded one of the best months in Yankees history in May and went right into facing the Twins this week. Abreu’s overall numbers with the Yankees were better than you think — but he left one year before their last World Series win.
Home runs
1. Alex Rodriguez (23); 2. Judge (11); 3. Teixeira (10)
Rodriguez hit more home runs against the Twins in his MLB career (51) than against any non-division rival, and he used them in 2009 to turn around his career-long struggles in the postseason. Judge and Teixeira have remarkably similar offensive numbers across the board in the series with almost the same number of at-bats. Only two (Judge and Giancarlo Stanton) of the top 16 are active Yankees.
Runs scored
1. Derek Jeter (54); 2. Rodriguez (43); 3. Brett Gardner (40)
Watching Derek Jeter cross home plate against the Twins was a regular occurrence until the Yankees shortstop retired after 2014. Jeff Zelevansky
Jeter hasn’t played against the Twins since July 6, 2014, when, of course, he scored a run. Brett Gardner spent a lot of time atop a lot of high-scoring lineups.
RBIs
1. Rodriguez (61); 2. Robinson Cano (41); 3. Didi Gregorius (35)
A-Rod and Cano needed 67 and 64 games, respectively, to be that productive. Gregorius? He averaged more than an RBI per game (29) — and that’s not including his turning-point home run in the 2017 AL Wild Card game or his grand slam in Game 2 of the 2019 ALDS.
Win probability added
1. Mariano Rivera (2.534); 2. Rodriguez (2.322); 3. Judge (2.265)
Rivera had the upper hand on the Twins from the beginning, including a brilliant six-inning start in 1995 and four of his seven career regular-season relief appearances of at least three innings. All four were in 1996. The mashers take the next two spots. Remember, Judge made his MLB debut on the day after Rodriguez’s final game.
Wins
1. CC Sabathia (8-2); 2. Andy Pettitte (7-0); T-3: Mike Mussina (5-4), Masahiro Tanaka (5-0)
Andy Pettitte went an overall 12-5 in his career against the Twins. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
All four fronted the Yankees’ staff at one point or another during this stretch. Sabathia’s 200th win was against the Twins. Pettitte was 5-5 against the Twins outside of this timeframe with the Yankees. Tanaka was unbeaten against the Mariners (8-0) and Twins among AL opponents.
Saves
1. Mariano Rivera (24); 2. Aroldis Chapman (11); 3. David Robertson (4)
Rivera surpassed Trevor Hoffman as MLB’s all-time saves leader with No. 602 at the Twins’ expense on Sept. 19, 2011. Chapman’s saves came with a shaky 4.85 ERA.
ERA (minimum 10 innings)
1. Roger Clemens (0.82); 2. David Wells (1.09); 3. Dellin Betances (1.20)
Clemens was 3-0 over 22 innings in that span. Wells’ domination of the Twins didn’t stop with his perfect game in 1998. It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time when Betances was unhittable.
Strikeouts
1. Sabathia (75); 2. Mussina (63); T-3: Domingo German, Gerrit Cole and Robertson (42)
Few pitchers made Twins hitters look more helpless at the plate than CC Sabathia. REUTERS
Sabathia moved into third-place all-time among left-handed pitchers with a strikeout against the Twins in 2017. German struck out a career-high 11 batters against the Twins in 2023, during a controversial game with sticky hands. Cole missed the full season series against Minnesota this year.
Some Twins culprits
SP Kyle Gibson: 1-6 with a 6.75 ERA and 25 walks in 50 ⅔ innings over 10 starts.
SP Rick Reed: 0-3 with an 11.12 ERA and nine home runs allowed in 17 innings over four starts.
RP Brian Duensing: 1-4 with a 7.99 ERA in 32 ⅔ innings over 18 appearances.
INF Nick Punto: .160 batting average in 98 at-bats over 31 games.
OF Michael Cuddyer: .289 on-base percentage and .669 OPS in 174 at-bats over 47 games.
OF Torii Hunter: 42 strikeouts and just 19 RBIs in 154 at-bats over 42 games.
Today’s back page
New York Post
Follow the leaders
The Jets are green with envy.
The Giants don’t want to be left singing the blues.
The pulse of this championship-starved sports city was racing during April and May thanks to the simultaneous deep playoff runs made by the Rangers and Knicks. Both teams fell short of winning a championship, but they succeeded in sending a message to New York’s other professional athletes about how winning strikes up a love affair with fans.
“Obviously, this is the greatest place to win, right?” Jets tight end Tyler Conklin said. “Winning with this fan base, in this market, this city, we got a glimpse of that this year with the Rangers and the Knicks. It makes you hungry. It makes you want to go out and make a long playoff run.”
Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux was sitting courtside in a sold-out Madison Square Garden — close enough for OG Anunoby to dive into him and his female companion while going for a loose ball — during several of the Knicks’ home playoff games.
The Jets’ Jamien Sherwood (l.) and Jermaine Johnson got an up-close look at how Jalen Brunson and the Knicks enthralled the city during their playoff run. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Jets defensive starters Jermaine Johnson, Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood also joined Knicks fans.
“They went further than a lot of people expected on the outside,” Thibodeaux said, as if channeling the light expectations ahead for his Giants. “They put in a lot of work. When you see the heart they play with, it hurt me (to see them lose). Now people see me (and say,) ‘You’re next, you’re up.’ When you’re up to the plate, we have to keep putting the work in so we can show up on Sundays.”
Technically, the Yankees — who hold an American League-best record of 44-19 record — are next. By the time the MLB playoffs roll around, fans will have a clearer read on possibilities for the Giants and Jets.
But now, in the preseason of optimism, Jets safety Chuck Clark repped the Yankees by wearing their hat after Tuesday’s practice.
While winning would be new to most of the Jets — the franchise’s 13-season playoff drought is tied with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres for the longest active streak across North America’s traditional big four sports leagues — Clark was part of five winning seasons (out of six) with the Ravens. The big prize — a Super Bowl — still eludes him.
While making his support of the Yankees clear, Chuck Clark said winning “in this media market, it could mean everything.” Getty Images
“I would love it,” Clark said. “Having been in a different place and winning there, just seeing if we win here in this media market, it could mean everything. Trying to do everything to win here, for real.”
Like the Knicks and Rangers, the Jets and Giants share a home building. Whereas MSG was a nightly hotspot this spring, MetLife Stadium has hosted one playoff game (2011 Wild Card win by the Giants) since opening its doors in 2010.
Thibodeaux got a taste of how champions are cherished in New York last month when he attended the Dexter Lawrence Celebrity Softball Game alongside current teammates and Giants legends from their past three Super Bowl-winning teams (1990, 2007, 2011).
Jets head coach Robert Saleh’s job is to navigate the journey from now until electric playoff atmospheres.
“Winning in New York is like nothing else,” Saleh said. “We felt it — we’ve had our spurts here in the last three years — but to get that feeling, you got to focus on the moment.”
The moment passed for the Knicks and Rangers. NFL season is around the corner.
King Cole
Gerrit Cole’s rehab start for Somerset drew a crowd double in size than what the Patriots usually draw at this time of year. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
How excited are Yankees fans for the imminent return of reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole?
Here is one way to measure it: Within the first two hours of Cole’s first rehab start of the season at Double-A being announced, the Somerset Patriots sold approximately 800 extra tickets, a team spokesperson told Sports+. Within five hours, the number jumped to 2,000. Within 24 hours, it was 4,600.
The end result Tuesday was a record crowd of 8,260 at TD Bank Ballpark — the highest the Patriots have drawn since becoming a Yankees affiliate in 2021 — to watch Cole strike out five across 3 ⅓ shutout innings. An average Tuesday night crowd at this time of year — prior to school letting out for the summer — is about 4,000.
The Patriots previously surpassed 8,260 fans during a July 4 fireworks celebration during their two decades as an independent minor league team, but that was prior to ballpark renovations to accommodate the Yankees that reduced capacity by taking away hundreds of lawn-seating tickets.
Eli or Aaron? Just an appetizer
Props to Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud for answering a no-win question when he was asked whether he would rather have Eli Manning’s career or Aaron Rodgers’ career.
In other words, are you picking two Super Bowl rings and big-game MVPs over one championship ring and four regular-season MVPs?
With two memorable Super Bowl runs, Eli Manning has a compelling Hall of Fame case. REUTERS
“You want the rings, dog,” Stroud said during an appearance on the “Million Dollaz Worth Of Game” podcast.
Shame on everyone who has ripped Stroud for his opinion (and thus encouraged a scared culture of vanilla interviews). Double shame on anyone who has questioned Stroud’s sanity for picking Manning over Rodgers, but previously espoused athletes valuing team success over individual success.
The debate is a nice launching point for New York sports talk with Giants fans clinging to the past glory brought by the now-retired Manning in the 2007 and 2011 seasons while Jets fans eagerly await the future possibilities with a 40-year-old Rodgers.
It also serves as an appetizer for the debate to come in Feb. 2025.
That is when Manning will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time, and his candidacy will be polarizing among voters. Some will see the two great championship runs — the second of which came at Rodgers’ expense in the playoffs — and others will focus on his 117-117 regular-season record.
Jets fans have high hopes for the 2024 season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. AP
Manning’s first year on the ballot is important because it’s the only time he won’t be compared to contemporaries such as Drew Brees and Philip Rivers (both eligible in 2026), Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton (2027), and Tom Brady and Matt Ryan (2028).
If there are a lot of Stroud-like thinkers on the panel, Manning’s enshrinement could come right away. If not, Manning’s wait could last a few years.
Prospect of the day
Ryan Clifford finally might be finding his stroke.
The Mets first base prospect homered Wednesday for the second time in three games for Double-A Binghamton. Clifford’s solo shot was his third in the Eastern League since his May 13 promotion.
The 20-year-old also walked twice in a 6-5 loss as he boosted his Double-A OPS to .710.
— Andrew Battifarano
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🏀 Kristaps Porzingis opens up to The Post’s Stefan Bondy about his turbulent journey from Knicks unicorn all the way to the NBA Finals, which tip off Thursday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) as he returns to the Celtics lineup.
⚾ Behind a resurgent lineup (minus a resetting Jeff McNeil), the Mets finished a road sweep of the Nationals and head to London for a two-game international set against the Phillies.
⚾ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are on a statistical pace not seen around the Yankees since the days of Ruth and Gehrig and not touched by any tandem since peak Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter.
🍿 The Post’s Mike Vaccaro unspools some nostalgia for “The Natural,” 40 years since he saw it in the theaters, and the kind of happy ending that sports movies can offers.
🏇 A conversation with the legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who brings Preakness winner Seize the Grey to the Belmont Stakes, held this weekend at Saratoga.
🏀 Chennedy Carter, known for a recent Caitlin Clark flagrant-foul incident, was harassed at the Chicago Sky’s hotel.
