The Yankees needed a lift, and they found it in the long ball. New York defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Friday at Yankee Stadium, with Ben Rice and Trent Grisham combining for three home runs and four RBI — but the win did little to ease the broader concern. New York has now lost seven straight.
Grisham finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI. Rice went 1-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and two RBI, carrying a .270 average and 24 home runs on the season. Gerrit Cole worked five innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 7 strikeouts and no walks on 88 pitches, carrying a 4.01 ERA. He did not factor in the decision.
Minnesota struck first. Kody Clemens homered to left center, 403 feet, to put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first. Grisham answered immediately, homering to right to tie the game at 1-1. The third inning settled it. Rice homered to right, 357 feet, with Grisham scoring ahead of him to give New York a 3-1 lead — the go-ahead swing that held. Victor Caratini singled to left in the fourth, scoring Clemens to cut the deficit to 3-2, but the Yankees responded in the seventh. Jose Caballero singled to center, scoring McMahon, and Grisham added a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Caballero, pushing the final margin to 5-2.
Clemens finished 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Minnesota. Caratini went 1-for-4 with an RBI. The Twins managed six hits but could not sustain pressure against Cole and the New York bullpen.
New York improved to 48-38 but has dropped seven consecutive games, sitting second in the division. Minnesota moved to 42-46 with the loss. Cole is 10 outs away from 2,000 career innings pitched.