Trailing 2-0 going into the top of the 2nd inning, Edwin Encarnacion and Didi Gregorius hit back-to-back doubles, the 2nd of them scoring Encarnacion. Gleyber Torres drew a walk, Gio Urshela flew out but moved the runners over, Mike Tauchman tripled to give the Yankees the lead. Austin Romine hit a sacrifice fly to score Tauchman. 4-2 Yankees.
The Twins got a run back in the bottom of the 2nd. In the top of the 3rd, Aaron Hicks, the previous night's hero, struck again with a home run. Torres also homered in the inning, making it 6-3 Yankees.
Romine led off the top of the 4th with a single, followed by a fielder's choice by DJ LeMahieu. Aaron Judge singled, and Hicks singled home LeMahieu. Encarnacion flew out, then Gregorius tripled home Judge and Hicks. 9-3 Yankees.
With that kind of support, Yankee starter J.A. Happ should have been able to win. But he got rocked, and when he was removed in the 4th, the Twins had closed to within 9-6. Since the starting pitcher can't get the win unless he goes 5 full innings, Happ wouldn't have been the winning pitcher even if the Yankees had scored 20 runs.
Nestor Cortes, usually the 2nd man when Chad Green makes a short start, took over from there, and allowed only 1 more run. Encarnacion canceled that out with a home run in the top of the 9th. Tommy Kahnle pitched a perfect 8th, striking out the side. Aroldis Chapman only made us slightly nervous in the bottom of the 9th, issuing a walk with 1 out, but then got out of it.
Yankees 10, Twins 7. WP: Cortes (4-0). SV: Chapman (26). LP: Jake Odorizzi (11-5).
Earlier, in the afternoon, The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox. Going into tonight's action, the Rays are 10 games behind the Yankees in the American League Eastern Division, the Sox 11. The Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division is 48.
Which brings us to the subject of tonight's action. The Yankees begin a 4-game series against the Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. Just as taking 3 out of 4 from the Rays put a huge dent in their hopes, the Yanks can all but eliminate The Scum if they take 3 out of 4 at Scumway. Here are the projected pitching matchups:
* Tonight, 7:10, on MLB Network: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Rick Porcello.
* Tomorrow, 7:10, on MLB Network: James Paxton vs. Andrew Cashner.
* Saturday, 4:05, on Fox Sports 1: CC Sabathia vs. Eduardo Rodriguez.
* Sunday, 7:00, on ESPN: Domingo German vs. Chris Sale.
On the injury front: Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner have gone on the Injured List, the former with a strained groin, the latter with a strained knee. Both will probably be back in early August. Pitcher Stephen Tarpley has been called up, probably a good idea since we're going into that little green pinball machine in the Back Bay, and the more pitchers, the better. Catcher Kyle Higashioka has been called up to replace Sanchez.
It is also worth noting that Troy Tulowitzki has bowed to the reality of his injuries, and retired. The shortstop played for the Colorado Rockies from 2006 to 2015, helping them win the National League Pennant in 2007 and the Wild Card in 2009. He spent late 2015, and all of 2016 and 2017, with the Toronto Blue Jays, helping them win the AL East in 2015 and the Wild Card in 2016.
He missed all of 2018 with injuries, and the Yankees signed him as a free agent this season, knowing that Didi Gregorius was going to miss a lot of time. It was a no-lose deal: If he had anything left, great; if not, the Yankees would be no worse off than if they hadn't signed him.
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