Gerrit Cole gave up home runs to his first three batters and a career-high five in 2.1 innings but the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-7 Thursday night behind two home runs from Joey Gallo.
Cole left trailing 7-3, and the Yankees tied the score in the sixth when Aaron Hicks hit his second home run of the season, a two-run drive Hicks homered after shortstop Carlos Correa and second baseman Jorge Polanco failed to communicate on Gleyber Torres’ popup and allowed the ball to fall for a single.
DJ LeMahieu hit the 100th home run of his career, and the Yankees got their 16th comeback win, tying Colorado and San Francisco for the major league lead. New York improved to 14-2-2 in series and became just the second team to win after allowing home runs to the opposition’s first three batters. The Yankees’ 41-16 record tops the major leagues.
Five of Minnesota’s first 16 batters homered off Cole, who had never before allowed more than three in a game. He allowed seven runs and eight hits, his ERA rising from 2.78 to 3.63.
Lucas Luetge, Miguel Castro (3-0), Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes combined for 6 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
Holmes lowered his ERA to 0.33, got his ninth save in nine chances and extended his scoreless streak to 27 innings, the Yankees’ longest since Mariano Rivera finished the 1999 season with 30 2/3.
Gallo hit a two-run homer in the second off Dylan Bundy and combined with LeMahieu for back-to-back homers in the fifth.
Aaron Judge led off the seventh with a double against Jhoan Duran (0-2) that hit the top of the wall. Judge scored on Anthony Rizzo’s single for an 8-7 lead, Hicks singled in a run later in the inning and Jovani Moran threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth that bounced past former Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez.
Buxten has three two-homer games this season and six in his career, with a three-homer game at Toronto on Aug. 27, 2017.
Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, Buxton and Correa became the seventh trio of teammates to open a game with three straight home runs, starting a barrage against Cole. The only previous team to lose after starting with three homers was San Diego to San Francisco on April 13, 1987.
Arraez started the onslaught on a 2-2 changeup, hitting a tying drive 396 feet into the right-field seats for his second home run this season.
Buxton drove the next pitch, a hanging slider, 422 deep into the left-field upper deck for his 14th homer.
Correa fouled off a pitch, then pulled a cutter 413 feet into the left-field lower deck for his fourth homer and a 3-1 lead.
The previous trio to accomplish the feat was Arizona’s Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta off Jerad Eickoff at Philadelphia on June 10, 2019.
Buxton gave the Twins a 6-3 lead in the second with a three-run homer on a cutter, a 370-foot drive to left, and Trevor Larnach hit a solo homer on a fastball in the third, sending the ball 441 feet into the second deck in right-center.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Aroldis Chapman is scheduled to throw a bullpen in New York on Saturday as he recovers from left Achilles tendinitis.
Twins: Arráez returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with a sore shoulder.
UP NEXT
Yankees: RHP Luis Severino (4-1, 2.95 ERA) will get the start on Friday as the Cubs visit New York to open a three-game series. He’ll face LHP Wade Miley (1-0, 3.38).
Twins: The Rays come to Minneapolis to kick off a three-game set on Friday. LHP Devin Smeltzer (2-0, 1.93) will take the mound for the Twins against Tampa Bay RHP Drew Rasmussen (5-2, 3.02).
