With Ryan Jeffers nearing return, Twins offense thrashes Yankees in blowout

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK – Before Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium, Minnesota Twins catcher Alex Jackson tried to list all the big events around New York City this weekend:

A World Cup game, a fireworks show from the Brooklyn Bridge, the annual hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, a parade of tall ships on the Hudson River, the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding, the list goes on.

The Twins, too, provided their own air show. They clubbed a season-high six homers in an 11-4 victory over the New York Yankees, taking a three-run lead after their first three batters, then watched their bullpen hold off the Yankees after Zebby Matthews left in the fifth inning because of a cut on his right foot.

It was only the third time the Twins beat the Yankees in their past 15 regular-season meetings, dating to April 2023.

On a sweltering 95-degree afternoon, the Twins started with fireworks. Byron Buxton hit an RBI double off the left-field wall in his first at-bat following a four-game absence because of a right hip impingement.

Kody Clemens followed with a two-run homer in the first inning, Luke Keaschall and Jackson delivered back-to-back homers in the second and Trevor Larnach lined a solo homer in the fourth.

After the Yankees responded with four runs, and left the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Josh Bell, batting right-handed opened the seventh inning with a solo homer that sailed next to the foul pole in left field. Bell added a two-run homer while batting left-handed as part of a four-run eighth inning, the 13th multihomer game of his career and the fourth time he has homered from both sides of the plate.

It was the first time the Twins hit six home runs in a game since Sept. 4, 2023, in Cleveland, and three of those homers came off a position player pitching.

There were concerns about how the Twins would handle losing Ryan Jeffers for more than a month when he broke his left hamate bone on May 18. Jeffers was having the best season of his career and handling the bulk of the catching duties.

Since then, the offense kept rolling while Victor Caratini and Jackson kept the position stabilized.

Jackson, working more often with starting pitchers who he caught at Class AAA St. Paul, helped Matthews navigate a lefty-heavy Yankees lineup prior to his injury. Matthews, who yielded four runs across 4 2/3 innings, gave up one hit and one walk against his first 12 batters.

Jeffers started a Class AAA rehab assignment Friday, producing two singles in four at-bats. When he rejoins the Twins, he will return to his role as the primary catcher, manager Derek Shelton confirmed.

The Twins have the highest-scoring offense in the American League, and they are on the verge of adding another middle-of-the-order bat ahead of a critical stretch before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

After Matthews breezed through the first four innings in 47 pitches, giving up a solo homer to Jasson Domínguez in the fourth, he unraveled.

Matthews gave up a two-run homer to Max Schuemann in the fifth inning, then issued a two-out walk to Trent Grisham. Matthews grimaced after he threw a 95-mph fastball to Ben Rice.

Twins trainer Nick Paparesta paid Matthews a brief visit. After Matthews walked Rice on five pitches, he left the game alongside Paparesta because of a right foot laceration, the team announced.

Cody Bellinger greeted reliever Travis Adams with an RBI double on his first pitch, cutting the Twins’ lead to 6-4, before Adams stranded two runners with a ground ball.

The Twins asked their bullpen to cover 13 outs, and the Yankees loaded the bases against Adams with one out in the sixth inning via a single, a bunt single and a walk. Adams struck out pinch hitter Amed Rosario, and lefty Taylor Rogers induced a flyout against pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt, who has hit lefty pitchers better than anybody this season. Rogers (4-3) was awarded the victory with Matthews failing to pitch five innings.

One way to make life easier on the bullpen is scoring a lot of runs. Bell homered to begin the seventh, then the Twins scored four runs after Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisolm Jr. committed an error to start the eighth.

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