The New York Yankees had forgotten what this felt like. A win. A real live win where the bullpen didn’t implode and the bats didn’t go quiet. Friday night at Yankee Stadium, they snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-2 decision over the Minnesota Twins, and it wasn’t pretty or smooth—but it counts the same.
Gerrit Cole gutted through five innings, giving up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and zero walks. The first inning looked like more of the same bad news when Kody Clemens crushed a solo homer with two outs. But Cole settled in, retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced before the rain came. Play stopped for 53 minutes in the third inning. Cole didn’t just sit around either. He threw multiple bullpen sessions to stay loose, then came back out and finished the fourth and fifth innings. Manager Aaron Boone said he planned to pull Cole after 78 pitches, but changed his mind. Cole finished at 88 pitches. Sometimes you just let your ace figure it out.
New York answered Clemens’ homer right away. Trent Grisham, playing his first game since June 12 after a strained right hamstring, led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot of his own against rookie right-hander Mike Paredes. Grisham went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and added a sacrifice fly later. Not a bad way to come back.
Ben Rice breaks out of a slump in a big spot
After the rain delay, Grisham singled in the third to set up Ben Rice. Rice took a full-count fastball from Paredes and drove it into the right-field seats for a two-run homer, giving New York a 3-1 lead. Coming into the game, Rice had just two hits in his previous 25 at-bats. That’s the kind of swing that changes a guy’s week. The Yankees also scored more than four runs for the first time in 13 games. They’d been averaging 2.6 runs per game over their last 12. So, progress.
Ryan McMahon, activated from the injured list before the game, doubled to start the seventh. Jose Caballero singled him home, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Grisham’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn combined for two scoreless innings with two strikeouts each. Fernando Cruz escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by getting Royce Lewis to ground out. And David Bednar, back from the paternity list, struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save.
For Minnesota, Clemens had a homer and a double, Victor Caratini drove in the other run, and Paredes took the loss (0-2) after allowing three runs on four hits over four innings. The Twins were also without Byron Buxton for a fourth straight game because of a right hip impingement.
Next up, the Twins send right-hander Zebby Matthews (4-5, 4.15 ERA) to the mound Saturday against Yankees rookie Brendan Beck, who will make his major league starting debut. Beck has a 6.00 ERA in limited work. The Yankees will take a win any way they can get it right now.
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