The New York Yankees have moved closer to the AL East lead just four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, winning seven series in a row and 8 games in a row. Today they will go for their 9th win in a row with Yankee ace Gerrit Cole on the mound for the Yankees and Kenta Maeda for the Minnesota Twins. Today they can win the series after winning the first two games from the Twins. Today they got the series win and the Yankees won their 9th game in a row 7-1.
It was a beautiful hot, humid, and mostly cloudy day at the Stadium in the Bronx. Cole took the mound in the first inning and faced Max Kepler, who lined out on the first pitch he saw. Jorge Polanco ground out back to the mound. Josh Donaldson struck out looking for a 1-2-3 for Cole. At the bottom, DJ LeMahieu struck out for the first out of the inning. Anthony Rizzo reached on a bobbled ball to short. Aaron Judge flew out to center. Rizzo stole second. Giancarlo Stanton struck out for a scoreless inning for both teams.
At the second, Luis Arraez faced Cole and flew out to Judge in center. Rob Refsynder also flew out to Judge. Ryan Jeffers singled to right. Nick Gordon singled to right. Willans Astudillo popped out to Rizzo in the infield. At the bottom, Rougie Odor, hit by a pitch, took first. Luke Voit singled. Velazquez lined out. Kyle Higashioka singled. With men on the corners and two outs, Tyler Wade singled to left as the Yankees struck first, scoring Odor. LeMahieu flew out to left. New York Yankees 1 Minnesota Twins 0.
Andrelton Simmons led off the third inning by grounding out to Rizzo, who flipped to Cole at first. Kepler popped out to Rizzo. Polanco ground out to Odor to end the half. Rizzo led off the bottom by popping out to shallow center. Aaron Judge went down swinging. Stanton popped out to the infield. Yankees 1 Twins 0.
The fourth inning was led off by Donaldson, who ground out to third. Arraez singled off Cole’s glove. Arraez stole second. Refsnyder ground out, but Arraez went to third. Jeffers struck out looking. Odor led off the bottom of the fourth by striking out. Voit went down swinging. Velazquez flew out to center to end the inning. Yankees 1 Twins 0.
Nick Gordon led off the fifth by striking out swinging. Astudillo reached on a single. Simmons singled through the hole in left, moving Astudillo to second. Kepler walked the bases loaded. Polanco struck out swinging. Donaldson struck out with the bases loaded and two outs, looking to get Cole out of a bases-loaded jam.
Higashioka led off the bottom and flew out to the warning track in left-center. Wade hit a standup double to left field. LeMahieu singled to right, moving Wade to third. Rizzo walked to load the bases. Judge with the bases loaded and only one out stood back and watched Wade score on a wild pitch. Judge walked to reload the bases. That was the game for Kenta Maeda. Stanton faced the new Twins pitcher Edgar Garcia and doubled to left, driving in LeMahieu and Rizzo as Judge moved to third base. Odor still with one out singled, but Judge was called out at home plate for the second out. Voit doubled down the left-field line driving in both Stanton and Odor. Velazquez struck out swinging, but the Yankees picked up five runs in the inning. New York Yankees 6 Twins 0.
At the top of the sixth inning, Arraez flew out to Judge in center. Refsynder struck out for Cole’s sixth strikeout of the game. Jeffers ground out to third to end the half. At the bottom, Higashioka flew out to left field. Wade struck out. LeMahieu flew out to left-center to end the quick inning for both pitchers. Yankees 6 Twins 0.
Nick Gordon led the seventh inning, who faced new Yankee pitcher Lucas Luetge and ground out to second. Astudillo flew out to Judge in center. Simmons ground out Velazquez at short for the final out of the half. At the bottom, Rizzo faced the new Twins pitcher Ralph Garza and walked on four pitches. Judge flew out to left. Stanton singled, moving Rizzo to third. Florial pinch ran for Stanton. Odor hit a homer into the bullpen, but a last-second time-out was called, negating the home run. He ended up striking out with some unhappy words for the home plate umpire. Voit with men on the corners and two outs flew out to center to end the inning. Yankees 6 Twins 0.
Max Kepler led off the eighth inning by popping out on the first pitch he saw. Then, Polanco homered to left field. Donaldson flew out to Wade in left. Arraez struck out swinging to end the half, but the Twins got on the board. At the bottom, Andrew Velazquez, who has been sleeping in his childhood bed since coming to the Bronx, hit his first major league home run for the Yankees. Higashioka struck out swinging. Wade ground out softly. LeMahieu ground out to second, but the Yankees tacked on another run. New York Yankees 7 Twins 1.
With last licks on the line for the Twins and closer Albert Abreu on the mound, Rob Refsynder led off the ninth by flying out to left on an excellent running catch by Wade. Jeffers struck out. Nick Gordon popped out to second. The final score was the New York Yankees 7 and the Minnesota Twins 1. The winning pitcher was Gerrit Cole, and the loser was Kenta Maeda. With the win, the Yankees were 20 games above .500 and got their ninth win in a row.