Didi Gregorius on Wednesday night drove in three more runs with two of New York’s nine extra-base hits as the Yankees clobbered Minnesota’s pitching once again in a 10-7 victory over the Twins.
Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnacion each hit solo home runs for the Yankees, who outscored the Twins 30-27 to win this three-game series and turned Target Field into a private batting cage with a total of 48 hits, half of them for extra bases.
After ravaging Twins relievers during a split of the first two games, the Yankees turned on All-Star starter Jake Odorizzi (11-5) this time.
Photo: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY
He finished four innings with 10 hits, nine runs and two walks allowed.
Gregorius, who went eight for 10 with 10 RBIs in his two starts, hit an RBI double to ignite a four-run second.
Mike Tauchman added a two-run triple before the inning was over.
Gregorius got three hits, one day after going five for five with seven RBIs.
Eddie Rosario, Marwin Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz each homered for the Twins, who also got a big boost from rookie Devin Smeltzer’s five innings and one run allowed that helped them stay within striking distance.
However, after forcing the exit of Yankees starter J.A. Happ with only one out in their three-run fourth, the Twins tailed off against the bullpen and saw their lead in the American League Central over surging Cleveland drop to two games, the smallest since May 5.
Nestor Cortes Jr (4-0) picked up the victory after being recalled from Triple-A, Tommy Kahnle stranded two runners when he entered to finish the seventh inning and Aroldis Chapman pitched a hitless ninth for his 26th save.
Meanwhile, the Yankees took a 10-game lead in the AL East race to rivals Boston to finish their road trip.
After the Twins turned a triple play and hit five home runs to hang on for an 8-6 victory on Monday, the Yankees responded with a 14-12 win on Tuesday that was even more of a roller-coaster ride featuring the erasure of a six-run deficit after five and go-ahead rallies in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings before Hicks ended the five-hour game with a diving catch in center field with the bases loaded.
Producing an encore in the series finale that matched the entertainment value of the first two games was going to be awfully difficult, but the sellout crowd of 40,127 — the largest since the 2016 home opener — was still treated to plenty of action.
In other results, it was:
‧ Rays 3, Red Sox 2
‧ Cubs 4, Giants 1
‧ Astros 4, Athletics 2
‧ Brewers 5, Reds 4
‧ Nationals 3, Rockies 2, 1st game
‧ Nationals 2, Rockies 0, 2nd game
‧ Phillies 4, Tigers 0
‧ Diamondbacks 5, Orioles 2
‧ Mariners 5, Rangers 3
‧ Cardinals 14, Pirates 8
‧ Indians 4, Blue Jays 0
‧ Royals 2, Braves 0
‧ Marlins 2, White Sox 0
‧ Padres 7, Mets 2
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