MINNEAPOLIS _ Aaron Judge met all expectations in his Target Field debut on Monday, blasting one pitch into the third deck in left-center field, and smacking another far over the wall in right-center.
So much for batting practice.
During the game, however, the Yankees' star rookie was frustrated by a fellow rookie, Twins left-hander Adalberto Mejia, who held the engine to New York's offense hitless in three at-bats. Trouble is, the Twins couldn't muster much of a threat at the plate early on, either, leaving runners stranded at third base for three consecutive innings.
But in the eighth inning, the Twins broke through by stringing fourth consecutive singles, with pinch hitter Eduardo Escobar driving in Joe Mauer with the go-ahead run and Eddie Rosario plating Miguel Sano to make it 4-2.
That lead held up for the victory when Brandon Kintzler picked up his 26th save with a 1-2-3 ninth as heavy rain fell.
Mejia, who had allowed nine runs over his previous five starts, pitched 5 1/3 innings in the opener of the Twins' weeklong homestand, and surrendered only one run while striking out four. Only when the bottom of the Yankees lineup, fill-in first baseman Garrett Cooper and catcher Austin Romine, managed back-to-back two-out doubles in the fifth inning did Mejia surrender a run.
He could have been charged with another run in the sixth, but Ehire Adrianza made what appeared to be a potential game-saving defensive play. With Clint Frazier on third base with one out and the Twins holding a 2-1 lead, Tyler Duffey relieved Mejia to face designated hitter Matt Holliday. The Twins pulled the infield in on the edge of the grass, and Holliday smashed a one-hopper that appeared headed for left field. But Adrianza made a trigger-quick dive as the ball shot past him, somehow gloved it, and held Frazier on third before throwing Holliday out. Duffey finished off the inning by striking out Starling Castro.
But Duffey couldn't hold the lead an inning later, surrendering back-to-back doubles to Chase Headley, just short of the wall in left-center, and Cooper again, driving in the tying run.
The Twins appeared to be ready to knock out Yankees right-hander Bryan Mitchell early, with six of their first 12 hitters reaching base via hit or walk. But Mitchell did a good job of foiling good scoring chances. In the second inning, after a one-out Kennys Vargas walk and a Rosario double to the warning track in right-center produced the game's first run, Mitchell retired Adrianza on a groundout and Jason Castro on a strikeout.
Brian Dozier and Zack Granite led off the second inning with singles, and Mauer walked to load the bases. But Sano lined out to Judge in right field, and the rookie shocked Dozier with a tremendous throw that caught him at the plate. The Twins still added to their lead on what should have been an inning-ending ground out by Max Kepler, but Mitchell allowed the ball to tick off his glove and go past. Vargas struck out to end that threat.
And in the fourth, a one-out single by Adrianza and a double by Castro gave the top of the order a chance to pile on a few more runs, but a lineout and ground out prevented it.
