Struggling Yankees Are Starting to Contribute, Playing Key Role in Comeback Victory
MINNEAPOLIS — There have been plenty of games this season where the Yankees have erupted on offense while Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks have been unable to contribute.
On Thursday, those two outfielders played a pivotal role, lifting New York to a comeback victory over the Twins as they've finally started to find some results at the plate.
Gallo set the tone early, smacking home runs to right field in each of his first two at-bats.
While ace Gerrit Cole was in the process of surrendering five home runs in his 2.1 innings of work, with the bullpen in a tough spot after the right-hander's seven earned runs, Gallo kept the Yankees in the game.
"There was really no doubt that we were going to come back," Gallo said in the visitor's clubhouse after the win. "Not in a cocky way, but we feel like we have the offense to string runs together very quickly. Whether that be hitting the ball out of the ballpark to get runs quickly, working the pitcher, drawing walks, wearing them down ... we weren't panicking at all."
Shortly after Gallo sent two souvenirs into the right-field seats, Hicks delivered two decisive blows of his own as New York battled back and eventually took the lead.
From the left side of the plate, Hicks crushed his own tape-measure shot over the wall in right to tie the game in the sixth before adding an RBI single in the seventh to put the game out of reach for Minnesota.
"With this team, we just never feel like we're out of the game," Hicks explained. "We're a team that can score a lot of runs."
Hicks is right. New York is fourth in baseball in runs (279), leading MLB in home runs (87). But again, these veteran outfielders have often sat out of hit parades, serving as outliers on the box score while their teammates have triumphed.
Their production overall this season is still subpar, but the significant progress both position players are making is impossible to ignore.
Since May 31, Gallo is hitting .320 (8-for-25) with three homers, six RBI and a 1.113 OPS. His average on the season has jumped from .167 to .193 in that span. He's up to 0.5 bWAR on the year with eight homers and 13 RBI.
Hicks, meanwhile, is batting .407 (11-for-27) in the month of June with a .500 on base percentage. His home run on Thursday was his first since the fifth game of the season back on April 12. On the season, he's hitting .238/.358/.286 in 49 games.
"Nice to see the ball go over the fence. I'd like a lot more of those," Gallo said, cracking a smile. "It's nice to see guys like Hicks as well. He's been working his butt off and getting results now as well. It feels good that we can contribute to the team."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone added that while Hicks has been grinding of late to figure things out offensively, Gallo has also been working hard, making subtle adjustments to be more compact, limiting the movement of his head at the dish.
Whatever they've been doing recently has been working. It makes you wonder just how much better this Yankees offense can be if these two players can turn this recent surge into consistent production.
Even as their numbers have declined in 2022, Hicks assured that nobody is losing any confidence. You have to keep believing even in the worst times, he said, trusting the process while feeding off of those around you.
"You gotta believe in yourself and understand that it's a process. In hitting, you're gonna have ups and downs," Hicks said. "I had a down that lasted a lot longer than I'd like it to. So to be able to come and help this team win today was huge for me."
MORE:
- Gerrit Cole Evaluates Poor Performance, Giving Up Five Home Runs Against Twins
- Giancarlo Stanton Takes Responsibility For Fielding 'Mistakes' in Loss to Twins
- MLB Insider Suggests New Extension Figures Between Yankees, Aaron Judge
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