Donaldson, Cruz homers off Chapman lift Twins over Yanks 7-5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Josh Donaldson and Nelson Cruz hit two-run homers off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning, and the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 7-5 Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

“Pretty amazing effort by our guys, and those at-bats in the last inning were pretty spectacular,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Giancarlo Stanton drove a slider off the end of his bat 422 feet for a three-run, first-inning homer off J.A. Happ, Gio Urshela also homered and an all right-handed New York Yankees lineup built a 5-2 lead by the sixth inning.

But Chapman blew a save for the second time in 14 chances. He threw just five of nine pitches for strikes and his velocity was down from his usual 99-100 mph as he allowed all four batters to reach.

“He started out with a couple sliders, clearly missed his spots on a couple,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Chapman. “A lot of times when he has those outings, usually he’ll find the velocity within the course of the outing.”

Jorge Polanco singled on a 3-1 pitch leading off the ninth, and Donaldson hit a 438-foot homer on a 95.5 mph pitch with a 1-0 count. Willians Astudillo singled on the first pitch, and Cruz hit one 457 feet on the next offering, a 97.8 mph fastball. The homers by Donaldson and Cruz were the longest allowed by Chapman since at least 2015.

“He’s the best closer in the game, so it was remarkable to be able to score four runs against him," Cruz said.

This was just the third time Chapman allowed multiple homers in a game, after Minnesota’s Eduardo Escobar and Kurt Suzuki on June 18, 2016, and Philadelphia’s Erik Kratz and Freddy Galvis on May 19, 2013, according to MLB. Cruz had the 14th walk-off hit of his big league career.

Happ, wearing a beard in his post-Yankees career, gave up four runs...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Donaldson-Cruz-homers-off-Chapman-lift-Twins-16240457.php