NEW YORK _ Fernando Rodney's fastball cracked off Gary Sanchez's bat and quickly disappeared in the afternoon sunlight. As Sanchez made his way around the bases, the crowd _ many of them kids bussed in from local schools for the Thursday matinee _ roared in frenzied delight. He was mobbed when he touched home plate, and he wasn't quite sure where the Gatorade shower came from, but he did know it was colder than he expected.
It's good to write these sorts of things down, you know, because this is one moment Sanchez won't want to forget.
Calling it one of the best moments of his career, Sanchez sent the Yankees on their road trip in style _ hitting a walk-off, three-run home run with no outs in the ninth to defeat the Twins, 4-3, and complete the four-game sweep. The Yankees have now won six in a row, are clicking in every way they dreamed of in the spring, and head to Anaheim as the hottest team in the American League. It was Sanchez's first career game-winning home run, and one of only two walk-offs in his entire pro career (he also won a game this way once in Triple- A, he said).
"It's definitely a very exciting moment, (one of the most exciting) in the moments that I had in the big leagues," Sanchez said through a translator. "The other special moment for me is when we made it to the playoffs last year. This one is definitely up there."
The Yankees entered the ninth trailing 3-1 when Didi Gregorius led off by hitting a ball to third that Eduardo Escobar threw away for a two-base error. Giancarlo Stanton hit an infield single to bring up Sanchez.
Prior to that, Dellin Betances struck out the side in the ninth inning, looking every bit vintage Betances on his way to his first win of the season. The Yankees, too, were able to shake of the psychological toll of the first 52/3 innings, when they failed to get a hit against Twins starter Kyle Gibson. Gibson, who already had a brush with history in his first start of the season when he was pulled after 72/3 innings of no-hit ball, eventually allowed a two-out single to Brett Gardner in the sixth. He allowed only that one hit, with three walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts when he was pulled to start the seventh.
"We always feel like (the big comeback) is possible," Aaron Boone said. "The problem was Gibson was great ... Fortunately, we were able to get him out of the game. (And) if we can get traffic on the bases, we're always one swing away with these guys."
Jordan Montgomery was serviceable despite not having his best stuff, but a two-out walk in the third came back to bite him. Escobar followed with a homer to right-center on a 92-mph fastball to put the Twins up 2-0. Things stayed relatively quiet until the sixth, when Montgomery's high pitch count forced Boone to go to his bullpen. With two outs and Domingo German in, Robbie Grossman rocketed a changeup just over the wall in right-center, right over Stanton's outstretched glove, making it 3-0.
Montgomery allowed two runs and four hits, with three walks and six strikeouts.
The Yankees finally got on the board against Addison Reed in the seventh, when Stanton led off with a double to the wall in left. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Aaron Hicks' sacrifice fly.
"We kept battling throughout the game and did a great job," Sanchez said. "After (Gibson) came out of the game it was just a matter of keep battling and it ended up (working to our advantage)."
