Yankees bail out Gerrit Cole with four homers in comeback win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Gerrit Cole made a run at a perfect game his last time out.

One start later, he was lucky to make it out of the first inning.

Still, even on a night when Cole allowed a career-worst five homers — including to his first three batters — and lasted only 2 1/3 innings, the Yankees prevailed, never happier to be facing their personal punching bags from the last two decades, the Twins.

Behind four homers — two from Joey Gallo and one each from Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu — and brilliant work from a bullpen called upon much sooner than it expected, the Yankees came back from a four-run deficit to beat the Twins, 10-7, in front of 26,646 at Target Field.

“All we just kept telling Gerrit was, ‘We got you, we got you. We know we’re going to come back in this game,’ ” Gallo said. “That’s the kind of offense we have, the kind of team we have.”

The Yankees, an MLB-best 41-16, improved to 111-39 vs. the Twins since 2002, including the postseason.

Cole, who was perfect for 6 2/3 innings in his previous start against the Tigers, became the first pitcher in Yankees history to allow homers to the first three batters of a game, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Four pitches into the game, Cole was in good shape, holding a 1-0 lead and a 2-and-2 count on Luis Arraez. Four pitches later, he had allowed a 396-foot homer by Arraez, a 422-foot blast by Brian Buxton and a 413-foot shot by Carlos Correa. 

Cole then allowed a three-run homer in the second by Buxton that made it 6-3 and a 441-foot solo shot by Trevor Larnach in the third that left Cole snapping his head and shoulders backward and punching his glove in frustration as the ball soared toward rightfield . After allowing six home runs in 64 2/3 innings entering the game, he gave up five to the first 16 Twins batters.

Cole departed with one out in the third with the Yankees trailing 7-3 and  saw his ERA inflate from 2.78 to 3.63.

“The stuff was just over the middle of the plate,” he said. “Credit to them, they got their ‘A’ swings on pitches they should hit, but boy, that was tough. Just really poor execution and just not great stuff and never really found a way to try to make it any better.”

But the Twins (33-26) typically curl up into the baseball version of the fetal position when facing the Yankees, and Thursday was no different.

Minnesota righthander Dylan Bundy, whom the Yankees teed off on plenty during his years with the Orioles, allowed four runs and five hits in four innings-plus. He allowed both of Gallo’s homers, the latter a 427-foot solo shot on an 0-and-2 changeup leading off the fifth that cut the Yankees’ deficit to 7-4.  Jharel Cotton replaced Bundy and the first batter he faced, LeMahieu, hit a 400-foot homer to make it 7-5.

Hicks, suddenly resurgent at the plate, blasted a two-run homer  off Joe Smith in the sixth to tie it at 7. That followed a routine pop-up by Gleyber Torres that dropped between shortstop Correa and second baseman Jorge Polanco, neither of whom showed the least bit of interest in trying to catch it.

The Yankees took the lead for good in the seventh when Aaron Judge doubled off the top off the wall in left-center and scored on Anthony Rizzo's  single to left. Hicks grounded an RBI single through the open left side of the infield later in the inning to make it 9-7, and Rizzo scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to make it 10-7.

In his last eight games, Hicks is 11-for-27 with four walks.Gallo also has shown signs of emerging from his long slump with three home runs in his last three games, although he struck out in his last three at-bats — including with a runner at third and one out in the sixth and with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh.  

After Cole left the game, Lucas Luetge, Miguel Castro, Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes allowed one hit and two walks in 6 2/3 scoreless innings.  Holmes, who picked up his ninth save in nine chances, extended his scoreless streak to 27 innings. He has allowed 12 hits and three walks in that span.

“Don’t let us hang around, that’s the dynamic,” Aaron Boone said of the feeling in the dugout but also on the field when he took out Luetge. “There was that feeling out on the mound like, ‘Hey, they’re going to let us hang around. Keep grinding and we’re going to get this one.’ It’s one of those nights there was that belief going on.”

“It takes the sting away,” Cole said. “And honestly, that should be the main focus, regardless if you pitch well or not, it’s how did we play as a team? As a player, you want to contribute, so you’re going to have a bitter taste in your mouth when you don’t execute that plan, but at the same time, this game is always bigger than one player. For us to all pull in the same direction when it seemed like all the odds were against us just shows a lot of grit.” 

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.