MINNEAPOLIS — Didi Gregorius went 3 for 5 with a double and a triple and drove in three runs, and the Yankees clobbered Minnesota’s pitching once again in a 10-7 victory Wednesday night.
Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnación each hit solo home runs for the Yankees, who outscored the Twins 30-27 to win this three-game series and turned Target Field into a private batting cage with a total of 48 hits, half of them for extra bases. They had nine extra-base hits Wednesday.
After ravaging Twins relievers during a split of the first two games, the Yankees turned on Jake Odorizzi (11-5) this time. Odorizzi, who started the All-Star Game, went four innings, giving up 10 hits, two walks and nine runs.
Gregorius, who went 8 for 10 with 10 R.B.I. in his two starts, hit a run-scoring double to ignite a four-run second. Mike Tauchman added a two-run triple before the inning was over.
Eddie Rosario, Marwin Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz each homered for the Twins, who also got a big boost from rookie reliever Devin Smeltzer, who kept them in the game by allowing only one run in five innings.
But after chasing Yankees starter J.A. Happ in three-run fourth, the Twins tailed off against the bullpen and saw their lead drop to two games over Cleveland in the American Leagye Central, their smallest lead since May 5.
Nestor Cortes Jr. (4-0) picked up the victory after being recalled from Class AAA, Tommy Kahnle stranded two runners when he entered to finish the seventh inning, and Aroldis Chapman pitched a hitless ninth for his 26th save.
The Yankees, meanwhile, took a 10-game lead in the A.L. East.
After the Twins turned a triple play and hit five home runs to hang on for an 8-6 victory on Monday, the Yankees responded with a 14-12 win on Tuesday that was even more of a rollercoaster ride featuring erasure of a six-run deficit after five and go-ahead rallies in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings before Hicks ended the five-hour game with a diving catch in center field with the bases loaded.
Producing an encore in the series finale that matched the entertainment value of the first two games was going to be awfully difficult, but the sellout crowd of 40,127 was still treated to plenty of action.