Yankees at Twins
Back at the .500 mark, the New York Yankees can complete a four-game sweep when they visit the Minnesota Twins in Sunday afternoon's series finale. The Yankees continued their dominance of the Twins by rallying for a 7-6 win on Saturday, their eighth consecutive victory in the series and 21st in the last 26 games at Target Field.
New York designated hitter Alex Rodriguez edged closer to becoming the fourth player to reach 700 career homers with his eighth blast of the season and No. 695 in his career. Teammate Carlos Beltan is 6-for-9 with a pair of homers and four RBIs in the last two contests to help extend Minnesota's losing streak to five games. The Twins' offense finally showed a pulse, scoring more runs Saturday than in the previous three games combined, as Eduardo Escobar homered for the second straight game. The Yankees send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound Sunday to face Ervin Santana, who is winless in his last 10 starts versus New York.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 4.90 ERA) vs. Twins RH Ervin Santana (1-7, 5.10)
Eovaldi appeared to be on his way to a berth in the All-Star Game after winning his last five starts in May while allowing a total of seven runs, but he has been rocked in each of his three starts this month. He is coming off his shortest outing of the season, giving up six runs on eight hits over four-plus innings in a loss at Colorado. Eovaldi is 2-0 lifetime against the Twins, but he has surrendering five homers and allowed 16 runs and 26 hits in his last three turns.
Santana also is mired in a nightmarish stretch, losing his fifth consecutive start after he was tagged for five runs and 10 hits at the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday. Santana has been charged with at least five runs in four of the five losses and has given up seven home runs during the losing streak. Owner of a 5-9 record and bloated 6.22 ERA against New York, Santana must be wary of Rodriguez, who is 12-for-39 with four homer and 11 RBIs against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Beltran, who is one homer shy of last season's total of 19, has 15 RBIs in the past 10 games.
2. Twins RHP Kevin Jepsen allowed a tying two-run shot to Beltran on Saturday to set a career high with six homers allowed.
3. Yankees SS Didi Gregorius has hit safely in five straight games and is 6-for-12 with a homer and five RBIs in the series.