Alex Rodriguez’s go-ahead grand slam burns Twins late

Crushed into the Yankees’ bullpen, Rodriguez’s first home run since July 27th – his 40th birthday – was a game-winner, lifting the Yankees to an 8-4 win against the Twins tonight at Yankee Stadium.

“I’ve been stinking up the joint here for about three weeks now”, Rodriguez said.

New York Yankees pitcher Bryan Mitchell was hit in the head by a line drive, sending him off the field with a towel over his bloody face, during a Monday home game against the Minnesota Twins.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, “It seems like your heart just drops into your stomach and you’re scared for the kid”.

The win helped the Yankees open a 10-game homestand successfully and pushed their lead over the idle Blue Jays to one game. The crowd continued to cheer until Rodriguez came back out for his third curtain call of the season, having also received one following his 661st home run and 3,000th hit. It’s fun to watch.

Ideal through four, Sabathia gave up a run in the fifth and then a two-run homer to Miguel Sano in the seventh on a changeup that stayed up.

Stephen Piscotty sparked the go-ahead rally, hitting a one-out triple off reliever Hunter Strickland with a tied ballgame in the bottom of the eighth. Twins manager Paul Molitor took out right fielder Torii Hunter and added an extra infielder – the strategy was good, his team’s fielding wasn’t. Rookie Trevor May would have been used in a potential save situation, and veteran setup men Kevin Jepsen and Casey Fien were unavailable after working three straight days.

“Sometimes it can get you going again”, Girardi said. The catcher also threw out three runners trying to steal. “Because all of your hitters are going to go through it and people thought about changing the lineup and you’ve got to just ride out the good times and the bad times. I could have handled it better”, the left-hander told reporters before Monday night’s 8-7, 10-inning win against the Twins gave New York a one-game lead over idle Toronto atop the AL East.

NOTES: The Yankees made four transactions involving their pitchers Tuesday. They placed RHP Bryan Mitchell on the seven-day concussion list, and optioned RHP Caleb Cotham to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The injury wasn’t almost as bad as it could have been, as Mitchell was diagnosed with a fracture of the nasal cavity and a concussion.

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.

“There’s been attempts”, Molitor said.

PLUS: Yankees’ Mark Teixeira won’t play Wednesday…

But even in a down year he had his moments, notably a walk-off homer against the White Sox that tried to ignite a finishing kick for the Yankees.