Yankees 8, Twins 3: Judge's First Homer Since May Clinches a Berth

A cutter into the second deck, then the math closed

September 14, 2026 - Minneapolis - Aaron Judge had been 3-for-20 with 11 strikeouts since he came back from a fractured rib. He took A.J. Minter's cutter 415 feet into the left-field second deck. Three runs. Six in the eighth. The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-3, and a few minutes later Detroit finished off Toronto, which is how a club clinches a berth on a Monday in Minnesota.

Cloudy, 59 degrees. First pitch 6:41 p.m. Attendance 24,204. The game lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes. Three Yankees homers. Three Yankees errors. New York still left Target Field with its 61st postseason trip and its ninth in 10 seasons, the Associated Press recap said.

The Yankees are 87-63. They have won six of seven and sit a season-high 24 games over .500. Tampa Bay still leads the East by 3 1/2. The Twins are 70-80 and have lost eight of 11.

Caballero in the third, then 5 2/3 of quiet

José Caballero homered to left in the third, his 14th, a line drive off Dean Kremer. 1-0. That was the Yankees' offense for a long time. Two hits through 5 2/3 against Kremer, who struck out five and walked one on 94 pitches. It was his second-longest start since Baltimore traded him here on August 1, the AP recap said.

Will Warren matched him and then some. Five and two-thirds, five hits, two runs, none earned, two walks, six strikeouts, 92 pitches. The AP recap called it his fourth straight strong outing and his third as a starter. The two runs that scored were the kind that live on an error column.

Ryan McMahon booted a ball at third in the sixth. Kody Clemens reached. Josh Bell was already on. Emmanuel Rodriguez tripled to center, a sharp line drive that Spencer Jones could not cut off. Two scored. 2-1 Twins. Warren's line still said zero earned. Minnesota had the lead anyway.

Michael Fulmer threw a scoreless seventh. Tim Hill inherited a runner in the eighth and got the outs that put him in line for the win. The Yankees still trailed 2-1 when they came up in the eighth. They did not trail when they sat down.

Six in the eighth, and the first homer since May 24

Andrew Morris (4-8) faced four hitters. Three of them reached. George Lombard Jr. had already doubled. Anthony Volpe reached. Caballero singled to center, Lombard scoring, Volpe to second. 2-2. Ben Rice blooped a two-run single to center. Volpe and Caballero scored. 4-2. Cody Bellinger beat out an infield single.

Minter had not recorded an out. Three hits. Then Judge. The AP recap said the drive drew a roar from the Yankee fans who had filled enough of Target Field to sound like the Bronx for one swing. His 18th homer. His first since May 24. Rice and Bellinger scored ahead of him. 7-2. Minter: no outs, three hits, three runs, one homer, 18 pitches. The night he was asked to keep a one-run game turned into the inning that ended it.

Bell homered off Hill in the bottom of the eighth, his 20th, a fly ball to right. 7-3. Austin Wells answered in the ninth with his 12th, a fly ball to right off Tommy Nance. 8-3. John Schreiber finished 1 1/3 hitless innings for his second save. The Twins left nine on. The Yankees left one.

Judge's 415-foot fly was the sentence. Caballero's two hits, a homer, two RBI, and a stolen base were the night around it. Rice went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Wells went deep after striking out twice. New York had nine hits and three errors and still scored eight.

A berth in Minnesota, and Fried on Tuesday

The AP recap said Detroit's win in Toronto closed the last remaining path that could have left New York waiting. That is how a club clinches on the road: you do your inning, then you wait for another city's final. The Yankees did the eighth. Detroit did the rest.

Minnesota got a homer from Bell and a triple from Rodriguez and still lost because the eighth inning belonged to a lineup that had been quiet for two hours. Kremer deserved a better night. Morris and Minter did not give him one.

Tuesday is Max Fried (4-4, 2.73) against Bailey Ober (7-5, 4.28), the AP recap said. New York is in. Tampa Bay is still 3 1/2 ahead in the East. Those two facts can sit in the same paragraph. They are not the same story.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Warren at 14.66 pitching fantasy points and Caballero at 11 hitting FP. Rice had 6. Judge and Wells had 4 each. The Yankees finished with 16 team FP, first on a 10-game Monday. Minnesota finished at minus-3.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*