MINNEAPOLIS — Nobody offers the Yankees a get-right game quite like the Twins.
That is what made Monday’s shutout of the Yankees so shocking.
It is also what made Tuesday’s game so familiar, at least until the perennial punching bags began to punch back.
The teams returned to their regularly scheduled programming for a few innings, with the Yankees beating up on the Twins early before hanging on for dear life late in a 10-9 win at Target Field.
A 10-1 lead through four innings became 10-8 by the sixth inning, as Cam Schlittler and Ryan Yarbrough flirted with potential disaster.
Mark Leiter Jr. and Devin Williams restored order to the game, combining to throw 2 ²/₃ shutout innings to bridge the gap to David Bednar, who gave up a solo shot in the ninth before finishing off the save.
“We’ll take it,” manager Aaron Boone said.
The win allowed the Yankees (84-67) to keep pace in the division race with the Blue Jays, who remain five games up, own the tiebreaker and are still in the driver’s seat to claim the AL East with 11 games to play.
Trent Grisham belts a two-run homer in the Yankees’ 10-9 win over the Twins on Sept. 16, 2025. AP
More importantly, the Yankees stayed 1 ¹/₂ games ahead of the Astros for the top AL wild-card spot while moving two games ahead of the Red Sox.
A night after the Yankees were shut out and struck out 14 times against these same lowly Twins (66-85), they racked up 16 hits — 11 in three innings against righty starter Zebby Matthews — as every batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit by the fourth inning.
The Yankees had a handful of hitters who had cooled off of late, but the Twins provided a human thawing.
Anthony Volpe is all smiles after scoring a run in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Twins. AP
“We were just ready to hit,” said Trent Grisham, who snapped a 1-for-25 skid by going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly. “Got some pitches in the zone that we handled well. I think what really helped us was the mentality of being ready to hit.”
Anthony Volpe, starting for the first time in a week after slumping again and getting a cortisone injection in his left shoulder, enjoyed a strong return with a 2-for-4 effort.
He roped a double to the right-center field gap in the second inning, worked a walk in the third inning and then shot an RBI single through the right side in the fourth.
Cam Schlittler was unable to get out of the fifth inning in the Yankees’ win over the Twins. Getty Images
Giancarlo Stanton, who came into the night 6-for-51 over his past 15 games? He went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly.
Austin Wells, who was 2 for his past 24? He went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Even Ryan McMahon, who was 2 for his past 25, went 1-for-5.
The bottom third of the order — McMahon, Volpe and Wells — combined to score five runs, sparking rallies in the second and third innings as they broke the game open.
Schlittler looked dominant at times but erratic at others as he gave up four runs across 4 ²/₃ innings while walking a season-high five batters.
He retired 11 straight batters at one point but struggled on either end of that stretch.
Aaron Judge hits a sacrifice fly in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Twins. Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
The 24-year-old was able to limit the damage to one run in the first inning, when he issued a pair of walks, but then let his start get away from him in the fifth despite working with a 10-1 lead.
He gave up a two-run homer to James Outman, then walked three of the next four batters (along with throwing a wild pitch that made it 10-4) to end his night.
“It’s embarrassing, but you got to get in the zone, especially with that lead,” Schlittler said. “Even after the home run, I think I shied away from the four-seam a little bit when I should have just ran one in the next pitch.”
Reliever Ryan Yarbrough allowed four runs in a third of an inning in the Yankees’ win over the Twins. Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Closer David Bednar celebrates with catcher Austin Wells after securing the Yankees’ road win over the Twins. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Fernando Cruz came in to get the last out and strand a pair of runners before Yarbrough took over in the sixth, with Boone hoping he might be able to throw the final four innings to give the bullpen a breather.
That quickly backfired, as Yarbrough gave up hits to four of the five batters he faced, including a two-run homer that made it 10-7, before Leiter replaced him.
He gave up a bunt single and then a deep fly ball to Trevor Larnach, but it just stayed in the park to go for a sacrifice fly that pulled the Twins within 10-8.
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Leiter then calmed the game down with a quick 1-2-3 seventh.
“That’s one of the stories of the game for me,” Boone said. “A huge [five] outs from Mark there to settle things.”