Gibson, Twins can’t hold on

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Staff and wire reports

NEW YORK — The outing didn’t start out how Minnesota Twins starter Kyle Gibson had hoped, but he was still in line for the win until the bottom of the sixth.

Struggling against the New York Yankees for the second time this season, the Greenfield native gave up a three-run homer to Brian McCann in the bottom of the first but carried a 7-5 lead as the Twins clubbed three homers.

Unfortunately for Gibson and the Twins, the Yankees proved resilient.

Chase Headley hit a bases-loaded grounder in the 10th inning that Minnesota’s five-man infield bobbled, and the Yankees, despite losing starter Bryan Mitchell to a line drive that caused a nasal fracture, beat the Twins 8-7 Monday night.

‘’Really, really scary,’’ Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Mitchell’s injury.

‘’It seems like your heart just drops into your stomach and you’re scared for the kid and you see blood coming out. I was really worried, but he has a small hairline fracture in his nose and we’re going to monitor him pretty closely the next 24 hours,’’ he said. ‘’But he’s in the clubhouse and that’s good to see.’’

Eduardo Nunez hit the liner that injured Mitchell in the second inning. In a game that last more than 4 hours, Nunez bobbled the grounder that drove in the winning run.

Knocked to the ground, the 24-year-old Mitchell left with a towel over his bloody face. He was taken to a hospital and released.

‘’I get goosebumps talking about it,’’ Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ‘’You’re playing the game, and then you see someone go through something like that.’’

‘’I know they’ve talked about trying to find that protective cap for pitchers. They haven’t come up with anything that looks very practical as of yet. The face is pretty much something that’s going to be unprotected, no matter what you do,’’ he said.

McCann drove in five runs and sliced a double off left-fielder Eddie Rosario’s glove in the 10th that set up the winning misplay. The catcher threw out three runners trying to steal.

McCann also had a two-run single in the third off Gibson that made it 4-all.

Gibson surrendered six earned runs through five innings to leave with a no-decision and no outs recorded in the sixth. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out two.

Gibson is 0-1 against the Yankees this season with 10 hits and 12 earned runs allowed through two starts and 10.1 innings pitched.

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Minnesota Twins’ Kyle Gibson had another rough outing against the New York Yankees, surrendering six runs in 5.0 innings Monday in a no-decision. The Greenfield-Central graduate’s pitching line against the Yankees as well as for the season:

GM/YR;IP;H;R;ER;BB;SO;HR;ERA;W-L

Monday;5.0;4;6;6;3;2;1;10.80;0-0

Season;146.2;144;70;65;48;105;16;3.99;8-9

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