Ah, the Twins.
Just when the Yankees needed them.
Because in good times, bad times — and, really, pretty much all of the time — in the last nearly quarter century, Minnesota could be counted on as a elixir for Yankees’ wins.
They dutifully served that purpose on Monday night.
Behind 6 2/3 mostly dominant innings from Will Warren and solo homers by Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Yankees beat the Twins, 6-2, in front of 36,744 at the Stadium.
The Yankees (63-56), who moved within six games of the idle Blue Jays in the AL East and inched one full game ahead of the idle Guardians for the league’s third and final wild-card spot, improved to 124-44 against the Twins since 2002, that includes a 16-2 mark in the six postseason series the clubs have played in that time.
Warren, who struck out five of the first six batters he faced, allowed two runs and three hits over 6 2/3 innings. Warren, who did not walk a batter and struck out seven, became the first Yankee starter to complete six innings since Warren did so against the Rays on July 30. When Max Fried last just five innings in Sunday’s loss to the Astros, it marked the 10th straight game in which a Yankees starter didn’t get past the fifth inning, a streak that further taxed what for nearly two months has been a taxed bullpen, even with the three new additions at the trade deadline.
The Twins, who sold just about everyone in uniform except their coaching staff at the deadline, scored their runs on solo homers by Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach. The latter’s two-out blast in the seventh pulled the Twins (56-62) within 3-2, but Trent Grisham and a slumping Aaron Judge had RBI singles in a two-run bottom half that gave the bullpen a cushion. Luke Weaver, after retiring the final batter of the seventh, struck out two in a perfect eighth and David Bednar, in a non-save situation, struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth.
Twins righty Zebby Matthews, who came in 3-3 with a 5.17 ERA, allowed three runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings in which he walked one and struck out nine. All three runs came on the Bellinger, Stanton and Rice homers. Stanton and Rice went back-to-back in the third inning to give Warren a 3-0 lead.
Warren’s dominance started early. He struck out Buxton swinging at a sweeper to start the game, got Kody Clemens to ground softly to short and struck out Ryan Jeffers swinging at a 97-mph sinker to end the 12-pitch inning.
The next time Warren threw a pitch, he had the lead. Grisham led off the bottom half by striking out looking and Judge lined to short, dropping the DH to 7-for-44 (.159)) over his last 14 games.
But Bellinger stepped into a 2-and-2, 97-mph fastball and sent it out to right for his 21st homer, 15 of those coming at Yankee Stadium. Two more Yankees reached as Stanton, starting in rightfield for the second time in three games, reached on a single, as did Rice, starting once again at catcher for the slumping Austin Wells. Chisholm struck out swinging at a slider to end the 25-pitch inning.
Warren struck out the side in the second, getting Luke Keaschall looking at a 95-mph fastball, Trevor Larnach swinging at a 94-mph fastball and Brooks Lee looking at a 95-mph fastball.
Royce Lewis ended Warren’s streak of four straight strikeouts with a leadoff single in the third, banging a 1-and-2, 95-mph sinker back up the middle for a single. Lewis took second on Edouard Julien’s groundout to second and went to third on Ryan Fitzgerald’s comebacker to Warren. He recorded his sixth strikeout, fanning Buxton swinging at a 97-mph sinker, to strand the runner.
Matthews retired the first two batters in the bottom half before Stanton took a first-pitch, 98-mph fastball 399 feet to right. It marked the 440th career homer for Stanton – the sport’s active home run leader – which sent him past Paul Konerko and into a tie with Jason Giambi for 44th all-time.
Rice followed by lasering a 2-and-2 slider 415 feet into the second deck in right for his 17th homer. Chisholm’s 20th homer of the season in the eighth made it 6-2.
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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