Mitch Garver hit two of five home runs by the Twins, who held on for an 8-6 victory over the Yankees after a tone-setting triple play in the first inning .
Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler also went deep, giving the Twins their eighth game with five or more homers this season. All but Garver’s second solo shot came off starter CC Sabathia (5-5), who lasted only four innings.
The night’s highlight was a sharp grounder from Edwin Encarnación after back-to-back walks drawn by DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge. The ball went straight to third baseman Luis Arraez, who stepped on the bag and deftly whipped the ball to second baseman Jonathan Schoop in the same motion to barely get Judge. Schoop’s razor-sharp relay to first baseman Miguel Sanó beat Encarnación by a step.
Martín Pérez was hit hard, serving up home runs to Gio Urshela in the third , Luke Voit in the fourth and AL batting leader LeMahieu in the fifth.
Rookie Lewis Thorpe (1-1), earned his first major league win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
