– The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins combined for five home runs in the Bronx on Monday night, but the game was decided by a simple grounder. Eduardo Nunez couldn’t make a clean stop of Chase Headley’s hard smash up the middle in the bottom of the 10th inning, allowing the winning run to score in the Yankees’ 8-7 triumph over the Twins. Brian McCann drove in the Yankees’ first five runs, delivering a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run single in the third. McCann also threw out three runners trying to steal.
Homers by Miguel Sano, Aaron Hicks and Trevor Plouffe helped the Twins go ahead 7-5 before Carlos Beltran tied it with a two-run blast in the sixth. It was a short and painful night for Yankees rookie pitcher Bryan Mitchell. He sustained a nasal fracture when he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Nunez in the second inning. Mitchell needed help getting down the dugout steps as he pressed a towel against his bloody face. The outcome gives the AL East-leading Yankees a one-game lead over Toronto and dropped the Twins 12 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Royals.
In other major league finals:
— Steve Clevenger smacked a three-run homer and Chris Tillman won his seventh consecutive decision as Baltimore downed the A’s 4-2 to complete a four-game sweep. Clevenger’s fourth-inning blast put the Orioles ahead 3-1 and came after second baseman Eric Sogard committed an error with nobody on and two out. The win keeps the Orioles four games off the AL East lead, and a half-game ahead of the Angels for the league’s second wild-card berth.
— The Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on C.J. Cron’s tiebreaking, solo homer in the seventh. Albert Pujols banged out his 32nd home run for Los Angeles, and Cron provided two of the Angels’ four hits. Angels rookie starter Andrew Heaney lowered his ERA to 2.43 but didn’t get the decision after allowing one run and five hits in six innings.
— Tim Beckham launched a three-run homer and Asdrubal Cabrera drove in three runs in Tampa Bay’s 9-2 dismantling of the Astros in Houston. Erasmo Ramirez improved to 10-4 by limiting the Astros to a pair of runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. Evan Gattis homered for the Astros, who’s lead in the AL Central is down to 2 ½ games over Los Angeles and three games over the Rangers.
— Fernando Rodney walked Adrian Beltre in the bottom of the ninth to give Texas a 4-3 win over Seattle. Beltre also hit a pair of RBI doubles in the Rangers’ fifth consecutive win, which leaves them just one game behind Baltimore for the second AL wild-card berth.
— Rookie Stephen Piscotty tripled and scored the tiebreaking run on Mark Reynolds’ groundout in the eighth inning to lift St. Louis past San Francisco 2-1. Yadier Molina hit a fourth-inning homer and Piscotty had two of the Cardinals’ six hits. Michael Wacha gave up just one run and six hits in seven innings but was unable to become the majors’ first 15-game winner.
— Pittsburgh ended its four-game winning streak and fell six games behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Jeremy Hellickson combined with five relievers on a seven-hitter in Arizona’s 4-1 triumph over the Pirates. Hellickson also hit an RBI single and Jake Lamb added a solo homer off Gerrit Cole, who was seeking his major league-leading 15th victory.
— Lonnie Chisenhall collected three RBIs with a solo homer and a two-run double as the Indians ripped the Red Sox 8-2 in Boston. Danny Salazar gave up one run and scattered four hits in seven innings, blanking the Bosox following Travis Shaw’s third-inning homer.
— Rookie left-hander Justin Nicolino looked good in his fourth major league start, allowing two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings as Miami downed Milwaukee 6-2. Derek Dietrich slammed a two-run homer and Dee Gordon poked a two-run single to help the Marlins win for the fifth time in seven games.
— Matt Kemp and Yonder Alonso hit solo homers and Will Venable added a two-run single in San Diego’s 5-3 verdict over Atlanta. Winning pitcher Colin Rea allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.