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Chapman blows Twins away with 6 pitches of 103+ MPH

Jim McIsaac / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Aroldis Chapman was in a hurry Friday night. The Minnesota Twins paid for it.

Summoned in the ninth to lock down a 5-3 victory in the Bronx, Chapman - the New York Yankees' closer renowned for his fastball - simply overpowered the hapless Twins, striking out the side on 11 pitches, with six of them clocking in at 103 miles per hour or faster.

"I felt very well physically tonight,'' Chapman told ESPN's Wallace Matthews through an interpreter. "I was trying to be careful not to overthrow.''

Chapman, who spent the first month of the campaign serving a suspension for a domestic-abuse incident, now has 14 saves in 15 chances this year, with a 40 percent strikeout rate and league-best average fastball velocity of 99.7 mph.

Since Pitchf/x was introduced in 2008, incidentally, only three pitchers have thrown a pitch 103 miles per hour or faster. Neftali Feliz did it once, in 2010. Henry Rodriguez did it once, too. Chapman has done it 78 times.

Not surprisingly, almost every attempt by an opposing hitter to touch one of Chapman's offerings of 103 mph or greater has been futile. Heading into Friday's outing, only once had someone gotten a hit off one of those heaters from Chapman, who's generated 17 whiffs (23.9 percent), five called strikes (seven percent), and 19 fouls (26.8 percent) with his 103-plus mph pitches.

"He's incredible to watch. He's one of the most fun guys to watch in baseball,'' teammate Andrew Miller said. "You don’t have to throw that hard, but when you’ve got such an exceptional pitch, I think it’s hard to take your eyes off of it.''

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