Sir Didi Shuts Door on Twins as Yanks Take 2-0 Series Lead

YANKEES 8 - TWINS 2 
NYY Lead Series 2-0 

Maybe the Minnesota Twins can blame WFAN host Mike Francesa for jinxing them before Game 2.

Last night the sultan of getting it wrong and denying it, blasted Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius on Twitter for "getting beat on everything."

Well, Didi must not like Francesa, because he himself a day, going 2-for-3 with a monstrous grand slam homer that was the exclamation point on a seven-run third inning as the Yankees took an early 8-0 lead and never looked back.

Leading up to Gregorius' blast, the Yankees built a 3-0 lead mostly on small ball. A RBI single by Edwin Encarnacion in the bottom of the first inning. A sac fly RBI by Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, and a RBI single by Gleyber Torres shortly after that.

Then the moment happened when Gregorius lit up the first pitch he saw from Randy Dobnak and deposited it in the second deck near the foul pole. As Gregorius swung, he nearly flipped the bat away toward the dugout before collecting himself, stood and watched the ball sail out. At the same time Dobnak slunk his shoulders in disgust -- the game, and this series were effectively over.

Through two games, the Yankees look like an offense on a mission. Not only do teams have to slow the Bombers down, but they have to find ways to outscore them. And that is not going to be easy to do, even for the Houston Astros who likely await in the ALCS.

As for the Yankee pitching, that was just fine Saturday.

Mashairo Tanaka was brilliant, allowing only a run on three hits over five innings of work. He struck out seven and lowered his lifetime postseason ERA to 1.50.

The bullpen? Even better. The combination of Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Tyler Lyons, and Jonathan Loaisiga combined to shutdown the Twins over the games final four innings, as the Yankees cemented a 2-0 series lead.

The question is can the Twins comeback? Sure ... but honestly ... it's not happening. This series is done. The Yankees are far too dominant, and much more talented and too experienced for this young Twins team to handle. The Yankees are sending Luis Severino to the hill in Game 3,and with the way the Yankees are hitting the ball, this series could be over Monday night.