So the Yankees are playing pretty well lately. With today's win, the Yankees have now won six straight series. For today's rubber game-winning effort, they have Nathan Eovaldi and a Chase Headley-led offense to thank as the Yankees beat the Twins 7-2.
After the teams traded scoreless innings early, the Twins got on the board in the bottom of the third. With one out in the inning, Aaron Hicks singled. Brian Dozier followed that with another single. Hicks went to third and Dozier was able to go to second on the throw to third. Torii Hunter then hit one pretty sharply to third. Headley couldn't get a glove on it and it deflected to Didi Gregorius at short. Gregorius got the out at first, but Hicks scored to give the Twins the lead. Jacoby Ellsbury then made a sliding catch to rob Joe Mauer of a hit, preventing another run from scoring. But after three innings, it was 1-0 Twins.
The Yankees struck back a few innings later. With no one out in the fifth, Headley massacred a baseball over the right field wall, tying the game at one.
An inning later, the Yankees took the lead. Brett Gardner led off the inning with a single. Kyle Gibson then walked both Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann to load the bases with no one out. However, Carlos Beltran then struck out on three pitches because why not. Garrett Jones wouldn't make the same mistake, as he singled home Gardner to give the Yankees the lead. Headley then followed that up with a single of his own. That scored Teixeira and McCann and gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead. Gregorius then laid down a bunt. He was thrown out at first, but Jones scored from third. Stephen Drew followed that with a home run to tack on another couple runs and make it 7-1.
Later in the game, Eovaldi, who had pretty much cruised after the fifth inning, came back out for ninth to try and get the complete game. But after Miguel Sano led off the inning with a double, Girardi came out and got him. It was one of Eovaldi's best starts as a Yankee so far. He went eight innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out five. Justin Wilson came in and allowed a single to Trevor Plouffe (which is where the second run against Eovaldi came from). After Wilson then allowed another hit, Girardi went back to the bullpen and brought in Dellin Betances. Dellin came in and got three quick outs, partly thanks to a nice double play started by Headley. After getting crushed in the first game, the Yankees came back and clinched their sixth straight series win with a 7-2 victory over the Twins.
The Yankees will now head south to Texas for a series against the Rangers starting tomorrow. Ivan Nova will get the start for the Yankees, while Matt Harrison will go for the Rangers.