Wed, Jul 24, 2019 page16

• Five homers, triple play see Twins rise

  TOP LEVEL: The Twins’ Mitch Garver hit two home runs, while Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler also went deep, leading them to an 8-6 win over the Yankees

  • AP, MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota
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  Most of the highlights for the Minnesota Twins in this remarkable season have been home runs, putting them on pace to smash the major league record.

  That mark belongs to the New York Yankees, who on Monday watched the Twins whittle away at it with a powerful start to this series between American League (AL) division leaders.

  Mitch Garver hit two of five home runs by the Twins, who held on for an 8-6 victory over the Yankees after a tone-setting triple play in the first inning.

  

  Gleyber Torres, left, of the New York Yankees runs to third as Luis Arraez of the Minnesota Twins fields a ball hit by the New York Yankees’ Gio Urshela in their MLB game at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Monday.

  Photo: AFP

  “Those are the teams that you’re going to have to play at the end of the season if you want to hold up the trophy,” said Garver, who has 19 homers in just 181 at-bats. “These are the games that are really good for us, because we’re playing against the top level.”

  Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler also went deep, giving the Twins their eighth game with five or more homers this season. All but Garver’s second solo shot came off starter C.C. Sabathia (5-5), who lasted only four innings.

  “Just like our lineup, it’s a tough lineup to face, so you’ve got to be sharp, and I wasn’t,” Sabathia said.

  Martin Perez was hit just as hard, serving up home runs to Gio Urshela in the third inning, Luke Voit in the fourth and AL batting leader D.J. LeMahieu in the fifth, a two-run drive that cut the deficit to 7-5.

  Nine of the last 13 batters against Perez reached base and he left after failing to get an out in the fifth inning.

  LeMahieu went three-for-four, raising his batting average to .338, and the Yankees hit multiple homers for the 20th time in 29 games.

  The deciding factor was the sharp grounders, starting with Edwin Encarnacion after back-to-back walks drawn by LeMahieu and Aaron Judge.

  The ball went straight to third baseman Luis Arraez, who stepped on the bag and in the same motion deftly whipped the ball to second baseman Jonathan Schoop to barely get Judge.

  Schoop’s razor-sharp relay to first baseman Miguel Sano beat Encarnacion by a step.

  “You’ve got to give Arraez all the credit, because he just gave me a perfect throw,” Schoop said.

  Gary Sanchez grounded into an inning-ending double play in the third inning, while Judge did the same in the sixth inning against rookie Lewis Thorpe (1-1), who earned his first major league win with 2-2/3 scoreless innings.

  “We could have very easily got double digits tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “They made some plays when they had to.”

  Also on Monday, it was:

  ‧ Cardinals 6, Pirates 5

  ‧ Reds 6, Brewers 5

  ‧ Astros 11, A’s 1

  ‧ Red Sox 9, Rays 4

  ‧ Indians 7, Blue Jays 3

  ‧ White Sox 9, Marlins 1

  ‧ Rockies vs Nationals, ppd.

  ‧ Giants 5, Cubs 4

  ‧ Diamondbacks 6, Orioles 3

  ‧ Mariners 7, Rangers 3
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