The New York Yankees returned to the win column on Monday night with a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins, fueled by a barrage of solo home runs and a sharp outing from right-hander Will Warren.
Cody Bellinger opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo home run off Zebby Matthews, his 21st of the year. In the third, Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice went back-to-back, Stanton launching his 11th on the first pitch he saw before Rice crushed his 17th deep to right. While Matthews struck out nine batters over 5 2/3 innings, the homers proved costly.
Warren delivered a strong and much-needed outing, imiting Minnesota to two solo homers over 6.2 innings. He struck out seven, walked none, and threw 60 of his 85 pitches for strikes, earning his seventh win and extending his streak of allowing two earned runs or fewer to four straight starts.
New York tacked on insurance in the seventh, stringing together three hits and a walk against reliever Brooks Kriske. Ryan McMahon doubled to lead off, Anthony Volpe walked, and RBI singles from Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge pushed the lead to 5-2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. added the exclamation point in the eighth with his 20th homer of the season.
Luke Weaver and David Bednar combined for 2.1 perfect innings, striking out four to secure the win.
Every Yankee starter except Paul Goldschmidt recorded a hit, with Stanton and Rice posting multi-hit nights.Â
Box Score | AL Wild Card Standings
The series continues on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., with Carlos Rodón set to take the ball for New York.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].