NEW YORK — Since his surprise signing with the Twins this offseason for $35.1 million, Carlos Correa has been searching for a signature moment for the Twins.
Correa's proven his worth as a defender and clubhouse leader, but offensively, his numbers haven't quite merited that big salary, with just 17 home runs and 48 RBI heading into Thursday's final game at Yankee Stadium.
But in the top of the eighth against the Yankees, the game tied with the Twins desperate to avoid a four-game sweep, Correa stepped up to the plate and sent an 81 mph slider into the left field stands, just out of the field enough to score himself and Jake Cave to give the Twins a late two-run advantage.
That helped the Twins win 4-3 to improve to 69-67, 1 1⁄2 games out from Cleveland for the American League Central lead. The Yankees fell to 83-55, still atop the East division.
Jorge Lopez nearly derailed his fellow Puerto Rican's moment, allowing a leadoff double to Aaron Judge and walking Gleyber Torres to immediately put two on in the bottom of the eighth. He bounced back for two outs but then threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score and the batter to walk. The Twins pulled him for Caleb Thielbar, who struck out pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton to keep the Twins in the lead.
Thielbar and Michael Fulmer combined to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth with just one out on the board. But the Twins survived, thanks to a Fulmer strikeout and Isiah Kiner-Falefa's groundout.
Sonny Gray left his most recent start a week ago in Chicago after the fourth inning, having tweaked his right hamstring on the last pitch of the third. Manager Rocco Baldelli pushed his start back a day to give Gray time to recover. And considering the Twins burned through a lot of their bullpen in Wednesday's doubleheader, the Twins were banking on Gray hopefully staying in the game for a good chunk of time.
He delivered, lasting six innings to give up seven hits, two runs and a walk while striking out 7. The runs came on one hit, Miguel Andjuar's two-run homer in the second inning to grant the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
The Twins tied it in the fifth. Former Yankees Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez combined for the first score, with Urshela nabbing a base hit off Yankees starter Nestor Cortes before Sanchez doubled to send him home. Sanchez later scored on Nick Gordon's single after Cortes exited the game for Clarke Schmidt.
