The Twins-Yankees game on Tuesday night defied description.
Two teams leading their respective American League divisions had already played a memorable game Monday night to open their series, with Minnesota holding off New York 8-6 thanks in part to a first-inning triple play and some nifty relief pitching.
But what happened Tuesday makes a good game Monday a distant memory.
WOW.
That Yankees/Twins game was an ALL-TIMER.
— Cut4 (@Cut4) July 24, 2019
Building an early lead
The Twins, not the Bronx Bombers, lead the Major Leagues in home runs and used that to their advantage early in Tuesday’s game.
New York scored twice in the first inning, but Jorge Polanco quickly tied the game with a solo homer in the second. The next batter, Nelson Cruz, made it back-to-back shots for a 3-2 lead.
In the fourth inning, with the Twins’ lead at 5-2, Miguel Sano blasted a three-run homer, making it 8-2 and ending Yankees starter Domingo German’s night.
The @Twins are showing the @Yankees they can also hit plenty of home runs.pic.twitter.com/CklSW6gJ5S
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) July 24, 2019
The comeback
Minnesota still held a 9-5 advantage going to the eighth inning when the Yankees did a Yankees thing.
First Mike Tauchman hit an RBI double to make it 9-6. Then Aaron Judge doubled off the glove of center fielder Max Kepler for two more runs.
Tyler Duffey nearly got the Twins out with a 9-8 lead, but his border-line full-count pitch to Luke Voit was called a ball. Ryne Harper relieved Duffey (eventually Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected over the call).
One of the night’s many heroes was Didi Gregorius, whose two-run double gave the Yankees a five-run inning and a 10-9 lead.
Gregorious finished 5 for 5 with seven RBIs.
Didi Gregorius. A one man wrecking crew. 7 RBIs. He’s been absolute box office. pic.twitter.com/Wi8TApUKEW
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) July 24, 2019
The frenetic finish
But the resilient Twins weren’t done. Sano hit another homer, a monster two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead.
But with two outs and nobody on in the ninth, the Twins having seemingly survived, Tauchman drew a walk and Aaron Hicks hit the first pitch from Twins closer Blake Parker for a two-run, two-out to put the Yankees on top 12-11.
But the Yankees illustrious closer, Aroldis Chapman, also faltered. He walked the first three batters, and Minnesota tied it up one more time with a sac fly.
New York scored twice more in the top of the 10th on three straight singles and a wild pitch.
Then, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, the most dramatic moment of all: Kepler hit a potentially game-winning (at least game-tying) rocket into the left-center field gap, but Hicks ran it down and made a diving catch to save an epic comeback and win one of the best regular-season games you’ll ever see.
First off, are you SERIOUS Aaron Hicks?
There’s officially a front-runner for game of the year.
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 24, 2019
