Gregorius, Judge propel Yankees to sweep of Twins
NEW YORK -- Didi Gregorius set a team record for home runs by a shortstop with a three-run shot and Aaron Judge hit his American League-leading 45th homer as the New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with an 11-3 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Gregorius hit his 25th homer in the fourth inning, breaking the record set by former captain Derek Jeter in 1999.
Judge became the fourth rookie in team history to reach 100 RBIs, joining Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (1936), Tony Lazzeri (1926) and Hideki Matsui.
Gary Sanchez belted the game-tying homer in the third while Greg Bird hit the go-ahead double during a six-run fourth.
Brett Gardner and Sanchez added RBI singles as the Yankees (85-67) moved seven games ahead of the Twins (78-74) for the first wild-card spot and won for the 15th time in 20 games.
Jacoby Ellsbury fell a home run shy of the cycle and scored New York's 10th run on a wild pitch.
Judge surpassed the century mark for RBIs with a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Michael Tonkin.
Joe Mauer ended a lengthy at-bat against Luis Severino with an RBI single and Jorge Polanco hit a two-run single as Minnesota lost for the fifth time in six games.
Severino, who might start a potential one-game playoff game against the Twins, allowed three runs on five hits in three innings. Chasen Shreve (4-1) pitched three hitless innings for the win.
Minnesota's Bartolo Colon (4-6) lasted 3 1/3 innings and was charged with six runs on seven hits.
The Twins drove up Severino's pitch count and scored three times in a span of two pitches with one out in the third.
Mauer capped a 13-pitch at-bat in which he fouled off seven pitches by lining a full-count 99 mph fastball into right field for a 1-0 lead. On the next pitch, Polanco made it 3-0 by lining a single to right field.
Minnesota's three-run lead evaporated quickly in a span of four pitches. After Bird opened the inning with a double, Judge homered to right on an 0-2 fastball and Sanchez tied the game by lifting a 2-1 pitch over the center field fence.
The Yankees took a 4-3 lead when Ellsbury tripled to deep left field and scored on Bird's double to right field one out in the fourth.
New York added five more against Tyler Duffey as Gardner and Sanchez ripped RBI singles before Gregorius homered into the second deck in right field.
NOTES: New York OF Aaron Hicks (strained left oblique) will appear in a rehab game in the instructional league Monday and could return by the end of next week. ... Yankees RHP Adam Warren (lower back spasm) threw a bullpen session Wednesday and could throw another one over the weekend before continuing his rehab with a simulated game Sunday. ... Minnesota SS Jorge Polanco is the only Twin who faced New York RHP Luis Severino in the minor leagues. ... The game was stopped for several minutes when a foul ball by Yankees 3B Todd Frazier hit a young girl sitting in section 026 down the third base line. Frazier kneeled outside the batter's box with his head bowed as the girl received medical attention. The Yankees said the girl was given first aid at the ballpark and taken to an area hospital.