NEW YORK — The Twins hit six home runs Saturday at Yankee Stadium, two of them by Josh Bell, and beat the Yankees 11-4. Per the Associated Press, it was Minnesota’s first six-homer game since September 2023. The Twins did not treat it as remarkable, which may be the most encouraging part.
The scoring started immediately and came from everywhere. Byron Buxton doubled home a run in the first, Kody Clemens followed with a two-run homer, his 16th, and by the second inning solo shots from Luke Keaschall and Alex Jackson had chased the score to 5-0 against Brendan Beck, who lasted 3.2 innings. Trevor Larnach made it 6-0 in the fourth with his sixth homer and finished 2-for-3 with two walks.
New York made it interesting for approximately two innings. Jasson Domínguez homered in the fourth and Max Schuemann‘s two-run shot cut it to 6-4 in the fifth, the four runs charged to starter Zebby Matthews, whose 4.2 innings included four walks. The bullpen closed the door from there — 4.1 scoreless innings from four relievers, with Taylor Rogers credited with the win.
Then Bell ended the suspense. His solo homer in the seventh made it 7-4, and his two-run shot in the eighth — his 13th of the season, capping a four-run inning that also featured a Buxton sacrifice fly and a Clemens RBI single — made it 11-4. It was Bell’s second multi-homer game of the season, and both of his swings came with the game still within reach. That is what a middle-of-the-order bat is for.
The bigger picture, stated plainly: Minnesota is 43-47, four games behind Chicago in the AL Central and two and a half back of a wild-card spot. That is closer than a sub-.500 record usually feels. The Yankees, meanwhile, have lost eight of their last ten — a stretch their fans would call a crisis and Minnesotans would call not ideal. The series concludes Sunday in the Bronx.
