Twins slumping against the AL East

Alex Rodriguez hit a slump-busting grand slam in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees rallied from a three-run deficit against a depleted Minnesota bullpen to beat the Twins, 8-4, Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

“In high school, I wore one”, said Morgan Murphy, University of Saint Thomas senior softball pitcher, “but then when I came to college, I decided that I did not want to wear it anymore”.

Yankees: Nathan Eovaldi (12-2, 4.26 ERA) faces the Twins for the second time in his career, looking to extend his seven-decision winning streak.

Manager Joe Girard said he believed Rodriguez’s homer could be a turning point for the aging designated hitter, who’s hit 25 homers on the year. “Especially late, and it helped us win a game”.

With the crowd behind him, chanting, “Let’s go, A-Rod”, Rodriguez delivered, smashing a no-doubt-about-it home run into the Yankees’ bullpen in right field. With two on and an 0-2 count against No. 9 hitter Nunez – the former Yankees’ infielder – Mitchell threw a cutter down in the zone, and Nunez drove it straight up the middle.

If Alex Rodriguez had stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and the Yankees desperately needing a grand slam days ago, it might have been a different story. It’s fun to watch.

Justin Wilson recorded the first two outs of the eighth and Andrew Miller notched a four-out save.

“You know, thank God he’s feeling good”, Girardi said Brian Lewis of the New York Post. After the game, the Twins said Perkins was headed to Minneapolis for tests on his neck, though they were not placing him on the disabled list yet.

Miguel Sano’s two-run homer to left off Sabathia gave the Twins a 3-1 lead in the seventh. Besides the tying home run from Beltran, McCann hit a three-run homer and added a two-run single off right-hander Kyle Gibson. The Twins have scored 15 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last eight games.

But like the rest of the Yankees, he was thinking about the Mitchell.

Jeremy Hellickson won on the road for the first time in 21/2 months and Jake Lamb homered to lead Arizona over Gerrit Cole and Pittsburgh.

The Yankees recalled left-hander Chris Capuano from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Mitchell’s spot on the roster. Manager Paul Molitor said the causes were a pitchout, a miscommunication on a sign and a poor jump….

Yankees: Although initial x-rays were negative, first baseman Mark Texeira (right shin) was scheduled to have more tests today after he fouled a ball off his leg on Monday. Within the first four innings, CC Sabathia looked great, and fans even thought CC was on his way to a ideal game.