Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs to power the Yankees to an 8-5 comeback victory over the Twins Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd at Target Field.
ARod bashes another to CF, this one off Perkins, tying game in 9th. First 3-HR game vs Twins since another Yankee, Curtis Grandson, in 2012.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) July 26, 2015
Fans were hoping maybe Minnesota could shut down the Yankees for the second game in a row; the Twins beat them soundly, 10-1 Friday night. But the Yankees had other ideas.
Tonight’s paid attendance: 40,660. The largest home crowd this season. Thank you, #MNTwins fans! pic.twitter.com/XMrCyNp2NS
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 26, 2015
The Twins started out strong, going up 5-0 early on homers by Aaron Hicks in the first and Torii Hunter in the third – it was his 208th home run as a Twin, which pushed him past Kirby Puckett for sixth on the Twins’ all-time home run list, according to the Associated Press.
Twins’ starter Tommy Milone allowed just four hits in six innings. But one of those was Rodriguez’s first homer – a 452-foot solo shot – in the fourth inning, which put the Yankees on the board.
Rodriguez’s second homer, which scored two runs, came in the seventh inning. The Yankees scored another run in that frame to make it a 5-4 game.
The Yankees’ big bats had more juice in them in the ninth. Rodriguez hit the first pitch off Twins closer Glen Perkins for a solo homer that tied the game at 5-5.
That's now an estimated 1,298 feet worth of HRs for A-Rod tonight.
— Brian Hall (@MNBrianHall) July 26, 2015
Later in the inning, John Ryan Murphy hit a three-run shot off Perkins to give the Yankees the win.
Each time he rounded the bases, Rodriguez clapped while the fans booed. It was the fifth time in his career that Rodriguez has hit three home runs in one game, the Associated Press notes.
#MNTwins fall to 5-17 vs. #Yankees at Target Field, including division series sweep in 2010.
Last home series win vs. NYY: June 2008
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) July 26, 2015
Baseball. S— happens.
— Patrick Reusse (@Patrick_Reusse) July 26, 2015
Perkins (0-2) didn’t blow a save chance before the All-Star break, but is 0 for 2 since then.
The two teams play the series finale Sunday afternoon, and the Twins hope to take the series with a win. Minnesota hasn’t won a home series over the Yankees since 2008, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
