Twins' Duffey: Umps seem 'afraid' to call strikeouts in Yankee Stadium

The Minnesota Twins aren't happy with the results of Monday's 6-5 loss to the New York Yankees and are pointing fingers at the umpires for costing them the game.

"It's frustrating when you go out and do your job and execute a pitch you wanted to throw on purpose, you hit your spot you're trying to hit, and the umpire just flat-out misses it," right-hander Tyler Duffey said postgame, according to Bally Sports North.

"It seems to happen a lot in this stadium, for some reason. I don't know if they're afraid to punch people out in Yankee Stadium, but that's the way it goes."

Duffey was upset about a series of missed calls in the eighth inning with the Twins ahead 5-2.

Home plate umpire Jeff Nelson appeared to miss calls to Anthony Rizzo (walk), Gary Sanchez (flyout), DJ LeMahieu (flyout), and Brett Gardner (walk) before Duffey was replaced by Alex Colome with two outs in the frame.

After manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected for questioning Nelson's strike zone, Colome allowed a three-run home run to Aaron Judge to tie the contest. The Yankees later scored the game-winner on an RBI single from Sanchez in the 10th after they were down 5-0 to begin the fourth.

"I think there are a lot of people that are pretty pissed off after this one," Baldelli said, adding, "The way that played out toward the end of the game, it's tough to swallow. We're battling our asses off out there and things got tight, and we thought that inning should have been over.

"I just told Jeff I thought there were some pitches that looked like strikes to me that were obviously not called strikes then the big swing by Judge. The way it played out, everyone is frustrated and pissed off."

With the loss, the Twins are mathematically eliminated from winning the American League Central after sitting atop the division the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, the Yankees won for just the second time in their last 10 contests to move within 1/2 game of the AL's second wild-card spot.