In a game that last until about midnight, the Yankees beat the Twins 14-12 in 10 innings as the two division-leading juggernauts slugged it out in epic fashion.
The game was bonkers, back-and-forth and filled with bombas, including Miguel Sano’s go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning and Aaron Hicks’ go-ahead, two-out, two-run homer in the ninth.
Just look at this laundry list of craziness:
- 1st: Yankees go up 2-0 on a two-run double by Didi Gregorius.
- 3rd: Twins take 3-2 lead on homers by Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz.
- 4th: Twins extend lead to 8-2 on Miguel Sano’s three-run homer.
- 5th: Yankees cut deficit to 8-5 on Gregorius’ three-run homer.
- 5th: Polanco RBI double pushes Twins’ lead to 9-5:
- 8th: Yankees take 10-9 lead on two-run doubles by Aaron Judge and Gregorius
- 8th: Twins reclaim lead 11-10 on Sano’s two-run homer.
- 9th: Yankees reclaim lead 12-11 on Hicks’ two-run homer.
- 9th: Twins tie it 12-12 on Polanco’s sacrifice fly.
- 10th: Yankees go up 14-12 on Gleybor Torres’ RBI single and a wild pitch.
If you missed it, just sit back and watch this 4-minute video for all of the drama.
Overall, Gregorius torched the Twins, going 5-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and seven RBI.
Sano led the Twins with two homers and five RBI while Polanco had three hits, including his 15th homer of the season. Cruz and Polanco went back-to-back for the second straight day, and for Cruz it was his 21st dinger of the season.
Minnesota’s pitching was essentially non-existent. Kyle Gibson gave up five runs in five innings before giving way to a bullpen that combined to allow nine runs in five innings.
- Blake Parker: 1/3 inning, 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk
- Tyler Duffey: 1/3 inning, 1 run on 0 hits and a walk
- Taylor Rogers: 1 inning, 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk
- Kohl Stewart: 1 inning, 2 runs on 3 hits
The only Twins relievers who didn’t give up a run were Cody Staskak, who pitched two innings in his MLB debut, and Ryne Harper, who gave up a huge double to Gregorius in the eighth but wasn’t charged with any runs.
It was Rogers who served up the critical homer to Hicks in the ninth, and then Hicks saved the game in the bottom of the 10th by making a diving catch to rob Max Kepler of what would’ve been a game-winning double to the gap in left-center field.
“If that’s not the game of the year so far, I don’t know what it would be,” said Gibson, via the Twins. “Two really, really good teams, two really, really good offenses and two teams that never think they’re out of the game. … That’s what playoff baseball looks like; two teams not giving up. Hopefully, the fans enjoyed it and hopefully they realize we’re never out of a game.”
