Judge & Yank Bombers Bomb Late. NY 8 Minnesota 3

September 15, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Aaron Judge with a Monster Blast off the 3rd deck in Minnesota -- a 3-run HR to give NY a 7-2 lead in the 8th.

Jose Caballero singled in a run in the 8th to tie the game 2-2, Ben Rice drove in 2 more runs with a bloop single, and Aaron Judge hit a titanic Homerun for a 6-run inning as the Yankees clobbered the Twins 8-3 on a rainy, drenched Monday night in Minnesota.

The field was wet as it had been raining all day with a light rain coming down all game, and that wetness sabotaged Yankee starter Will Warren who was pitching a brilliant shutout into the 6th — leading 1-0 — when several sloppy plays by the defense and a wetness-aided 2-run triple with 2 outs put Minny up 2-1.

But the rain stopped falling by the 8th and the Yankee Bombers took advantage. Judge’s mammoth HR in the 8th was followed by a HR by Austin Wells in the 9th for the final score.

With the win the Yankees clinched a playoff spot, and celebrated in the clubhouse afterwards.

“Super exciting; just going out there trying to put us in a position to win, and we got it done,” said Will Warren afterwards about starting the game that was the Yankee playoff clincher.

NY improves to 87-63, 3.5 behind Tampa and 5 ahead of Boston. The Yankees actually still control their destiny despite being 3.5 behind Tampa with 12 games to go, as the 2 teams play a 4 game set next week. If the Yankees win all the rest of their games, they will win the division. Minnesota falls to 70-80.

1. Kremer Tough But Caballero Gets Him with HR in 3rd

The Twins started 30-year-old, 6’2 righty Dean Kremer, whom they acquired at the trade deadline from the Baltimore Orioles for prospect Jhomnardo Reyes. It is a 2-month rental as Kremer is a free agent at the end of the season.

At the time the Twins were 66-65 and in the thick of the race for the AL Central division title and/or a Wild Card spot. But the Twins have gone 14-25 since then and are now 10 games under .500.

Kremer was 11-10 4.19 last year but only 1-4 6.50 for the Orioles this year — missing 2 months due to a pulled quadriceps muscle suffered while working out.  He has done well for the Twins in 8 starts so far, going 2-1 4.35.

Kremer was tough — pitching 5.2 innings of 2-hit ball, allowing 1 run, striking out 5 and walking 1.

The one run he allowed was a HR by Jose Caballero — who ripped a 77-MPH curveball 372 feet to left with 2 outs in the 3rd for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

2. Warren Brilliant — with Some Help from Wells & D

Meanwhile Will Warren was brilliant as well — again — for the Yankees. It was his 3rd scintillating start in a row with a terrific 2.1-shutout-innings relief appearances sandwiched in between.

Warren outdueled Kremer with a shutout into the 6th.

Will got into and out of trouble in the bottom of the 1st, with some help from catcher Austin Wells. Warren allowed a leadoff walk and then a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. But he got a lineout and a flyout before walking Josh Bell on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases — NOT — as Austin Wells challenged the call and won — so the walk became an inning-ending strikeout!

Warren then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd and an easy shutout 3rd inning. He got the first 2 outs of the 4th when Emmanuel Rodriguez put a 10-pitch at bat on him before drawing a walk on a curveball that seemed to hit the strikezone. Again Austin Wells challenged — and again Austin Wells won — turning the walk into an inning-ending strikeout!

Warren then got in and out of trouble again in the 5th — allowing an infield single by Victor Caratini to 2nd and a single to shortstop Ryan Kreidler to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out in a 1-0 game.

But Warren struck out Walker Jenkins and got 2nd baseman Luke Keaschall to hit into a 3rd-to-1st doubleplay!

3. Warren Sabotaged by Wet Field & Defense in 6th

But Warren was finally sabotaged by the wet field and his defense in the 6th. He got the first out of the inning, and should have had the 2nd out when Kody Clemens hit an easy grounder to 3rd — but Ryan McMahon couldn’t pick the wet ball up and it went for an error.

Warren then struck out Jeffers for what should have been the 3rd out. But with 2 outs, Ball hit a soft liner to shortstop that George Lombard Jr. should have caught — but it tipped off the top of his glove for a single.

At this point Warren had gotten what should have been 4 outs — but instead it was 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, and Rodriguez hit a single to left center that got under Spencer Jones‘ glove and went for a 2-RBI triple and 2-1 Minny lead.

5. Caballero, Rice & Judge 6-Run Monster Bash 8th

And so it was looking bad for NY. Kremer left with 2 outs in the 6th, and 6’4 lefty Kody Funderburk got the final out, then 6’5 righty Jeff Hoffman pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 7th and NY went to the 8th down 2-1.

But the rain stopped, the Twins brought in 6’0 righty Andrew Morris — and the Yankees pounced.

George Lombard Jr. made up for his misplay in the 6th with a leadoff double to left. Ryan McMahon reached on an infield single, and after Austin Wells struck out, Jose Caballero got a CLUTCH single to center for a 2-2 tie.

The Twins brought in lefty A.J. Minter to pitch — and Anthony Volpe — who had come in to run for McMahon — and Jose Caballero immediately executed a double steal of 3rd and 2nd.

Ben Rice then blooped a single to center for 2 runs and a 4-2 Yankee lead.

Next batter Cody Bellinger reached on an infield single, and Aaron Judge hit a MISSILE that bounced off the top of the 3rd deck. Yankees 7 Twins 2.

6. Fullmer to Hill

Michael Fullmer relieved Warren to get the last out of the 6th and then got the first 2 outs of the 7th before walking a batter and passing the baton to Tim Hill who got a groundout to end the inning.

Hill got 2 groundouts to begin the 8th in a 7-2 game — but then allowed a solo HR to Josh Bell to make it 7-3. Hill got another grounder — but Volpe made an error to keep the inning going, and when Hill hit the next batter he was relieved by John Schreiber who got the final out sending the game to the bottom of the 8th with NY up 7-3.

7. Wells HR in 9th Makes It 8-3

Austin Wells got the run back with a 2-out, 371-foot HR to right in the bottom of the 8th to give the Yankees an 8-3 lead. It was the 2nd HR in 2 games for Wells.

8. Schreiber Closes

John Schreiber then stayed in to pitch a shutout 9th — getting an inning-ending double play for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401816938

 

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