NEW YORK - Flashes from cameras and smartphones lit up Yankee Stadium in the sixth inning on Thursday night as Curtis Granderson neared history and fans wanted to record.
The Yankees center fielder had homered off of Twins righthander Anthony Swarzak in each of the first two innings and off of reliever Jeff Gray in the fourth. Granderson had a chance to become the 16th player in major league history to hit four homers in a game, so fans were at the ready.
He fell short in the sixth, only a single to right. Then he beat out an infield hit during his final at-bat in the ninth.
History wasn't made, but Granderson made the Yankees' night, as they needed all of his power to beat the Twins 7-6 and salvage a split of the four-game series.
"The kid can hit if you get it down there in that zone for him," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's a nice porch for lefthanded hitters out there [in right field] and he made full use of it."
The Twins know Granderson well from when he played for the Tigers from 2004 to '09. He has gone from hitting 23 triples in a season, like he did in 2007, to hitting 41 homers last year. It's the 28th time a Yankees player as hit three homers in a game, the first since Alex Rodriguez in 2010. And no other Yankees player has ever hit three homers in a game in which he had five hits in all.
Granderson became the 24th opponent to hit three home runs in a game against the Twins, the first since Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays did it last season.
The Twins have done it four times.