New York Yankees Rally Past Twins to 7-6 Win

The New York Yankees rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win their third straight game against the Minnesota Twins 7-5 Saturday afternoon, putting them in position to complete a four game sweep Sunday.

Twins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco held the New York Yankees offense at bay with seven strong innings Saturday, giving Minnesota a comfortable lead for much of the game. Nolasco had a 5.12 ERA through his first 13 starts coming into the contest, but he managed to shut out New York through his first six innings of work, striking out five and allowing no walks.

Michael Pineda continued his recent run of strong starts with an impressive nine K’s in 5.1 innings. An RBI single by Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar in the second inning was the first damage he allowed, followed by a two run shot crushed to right-center by Byung Ho Park in the fourth. Park added another run with a sacrifice fly off of Anthony Swarzak to score Brian Dozier in the sixth inning, giving Minnesota a 4-0 lead.

A pair of opposite field home runs helped the Yankees mount their comeback late in the game. Alex Rodriguez struck first with career number 695 off of Nolasco in the seventh, his eighth of the year and 51st against Minnesota for his career. The next inning, Carlos Beltran also went the other way with his 18th homer of 2016, continuing his push to make this year’s All Star squad with a squeaker that just cleared the left field wall. Both home runs were two-run shots, ultimately tying the game at four.

The Yankees completed their rally in the top of the ninth. A walk to Chase Headley led off the inning. Didi Gregorius attempted to move Headley over with a sacrifice bunt but ended up reaching as the ball found a perfect hole between the pitcher and first baseman. A passed ball by the catcher Juan Centeno moved both runners into scoring position. The Twins then elected to intentionally walk Rob Refsnyder to load the bases with no outs. Starlin Castro struck out as a pinch hitter for lefty Ike Davis. Jacoby Ellsbury had the biggest hit of the game, a sharp ground ball through the right side of the infield that brought in Headley and Gregorius. Brett Gardner followed that up with a sac fly to pad the Yankee lead at 7-4.

Aroldis Chapman allowed back-to-back home runs to Escobar and Suzuki in the ninth just to make things interesting, but New York held on to finish with a 7-6 victory. Nathan Eovaldi will face off against Ervin Santana Sunday at 2:10 PM ET as the Yankees go for their third four-game sweep of the season.

Notes:

• Luis Severino will make his fourth start for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders Saturday evening. He has 19 strikeouts and just six earned runs in 16.2 innings of work since being optioned to Triple-A at the end of May.
• Chasen Shreve made his second rehab appearance for the Railriders Friday night and appears close to making a return to the big leagues. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 26 with a joint sprain in his left shoulder.
• Mark Teixeira ran the bases before the game with no issues and appears to be on track to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday.

• Rob Refsnyder received just his second start of the season as the Yankees second baseman Saturday afternoon, the closest thing he has to a natural position at this point. Ike Davis got the start at first base against the right hander Ricky Nolasco.