Yankees Lose Pitcher To Liner To Face, Beat Twins In 10th
NEW YORK (AP) — Chase Headley hit a bases-loaded grounder in the 10th inning that Minnesota's five-man infield bobbled and the New York Yankees, after losing starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell to a line drive to the face, beat the Twins 8-7 Monday night.
Brian McCann homered, drove in five runs and sliced a double off left fielder Eddie Rosario's glove in the 10th that set up the winning misplay. The catcher also threw out three runners trying to steal.
Rookie Greg Bird doubled and the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th against Glen Perkins (1-4). 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.
Headley hit a hard grounder up the middle to Eduardo Nunez, who had been playing shortstop. Nunez fumbled the ball and by the time he recovered, he had no chance for a forceout at the plate.
Andrew Miller (1-2) got the victory as the AL East-leading Yankees started a season-high 10-game homestand with their third win in four games.
The Twins, contending for a wild card, lost to begin a 10-game trip that also will take them to Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
Mitchell sustained a small nasal fracture when he was hit by Nunez's liner in the second inning. Knocked to the ground, the rookie left with a towel over his bloody face. He was taken to a hospital and later released.
The Yankees will monitor the 24-year-old Mitchell, who made his third big league start, for the possibility of concussion symptoms.
Carlos Beltran hit a tying two-run homer for the Yankees in the sixth. New York loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but reliever Casey Fien got McCann on a popup and fanned Beltran.
Rookie Miguel Sano, Trevor Plouffe and Aaron Hicks homered for the Twins. Brian Dozier singled his first three times up, and then struck out after a long foul that umpires reviewed to be sure it wasn't a home run.
McCann hit a three-run homer in the first off Kyle Gibson and had a two-run single in the third that made it 5-all. McCann has enjoyed tremendous success in the first inning this season — in those at-bats, he is 17 for 35 with six home runs and 28 RBIs.
Bird, in the game after Mark Teixeira injured himself on a foul, opened the 10th with a double. He made it to third on McCann's double and Beltran was intentionally walked.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: 1B Teixeira fouled a ball off his lower right leg and exited with a bruise, with Bird taking his place. X-rays were negative. ... RHP Michael Pineda, on the DL since July 30 with a forearm strain, threw 42 pitches Sunday at Double-A in his first rehab start. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he's not sure yet on Pineda's next step.
UP NEXT
Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey (6-7, 3.70 ERA) had gone 10 starts without a win before beating Texas in his last outing. A former mainstay in the Mets' rotation, this will be his first start vs. the Yankees since 2011.
Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.23 ERA) starts a day after TMZ posted video of him getting into a verbal altercation with hecklers outside a nightclub in Toronto over the weekend. He certainly has throttled Joe Mauer — the Twins star is just 8 for 47 (.170) vs. the big lefty and has struck out 19 times.
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