Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Didi Gregorius all homered as the new york yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins via an 11-3 triumph Wednesday at Yankee Stadium for their 10th win in 12 outings. Judge smacked his American League-leading 45th homer, Sanchez clubbed his 32nd long ball of the season while Gregorius set a new team record for homers by a shortstop with his 25th home run of the season as the Yankees improved to 85-67, or a season-high 18 games over .500. The three-game sweep increased the Yankees' lead over the Twins for the first AL Wild Card to seven games and trimmed the Boston Red Sox’s lead in the American League East to 2 1/2 games.
The win also reduced New York’s magic number to secure a postseason spot was reduced to four, depending on the outcome of the showdown between the Los Angeles Angels and the Cleveland Indians. The Twins lead the Angels by one game for the second AL Wild Card spot. However, the Yankees’ win was marred by an unfortunate incident when a little girl was hit by a foul ball off a bat of Todd Frazier in the fifth. The girl was given medical attention while the game was halted for four minutes. The Yankees medical staff gave first aid to the little girl before he was taken to an area hospital.
Gregorius eclipsed Derek Jeter’s record for homers by a shortstop
"I'm showing a little bit of power, more than last year,” Gregorius told MLB.com after he surpassed Derek Jeter’s record of 24 homers set in 1999.
With 25 homers and 84 RBIs this season, Gregorius surpassed his career-highs of 20 homers and 70 RBIs in 2016. Starter Luis Severino pitched just three innings after allowing three runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Chasen Shreve (4-1) earned the win after pitching three hitless innings for the Yankees. Veteran hurler Bartolo Colon (4-6) took the loss after giving up six runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts, Jorge Polanco knocked in a two-run single and Joe Mauer tallied an RBI single as the Twins slipped to 78-74.
Twins raced to 3-0 lead
The Twins took a 3-0 lead in the third behind Mauer’s RBI single and Polanco’s two-run single but the Yankees tied the count in the bottom part of the third behind Judge’s two-run homer and a solo shot by Sanchez. The Yankees ripped the game wide open by scoring six runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. After their day-off on Thursday, the Yankees will open a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays Friday.
