Trent Grisham’s first at-bat back sparks a rare Yankees win over Twins

Trent Grisham’s return from the injured list came with the kind of immediate payoff New York rarely sees when its summer has gone sideways. In the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on July 3, Grisham led off the bottom of the first with a home run in his first plate appearance since being activated earlier that day. It was a clean, tangible moment that cut through a season stretch the team has struggled to consistently get through, even after a win the previous Monday.

According to the game story describing the at-bat, the Yankees opened their half of the first facing an early deficit. Gerrit Cole had surrendered a solo home run in the top of the inning to Kody Clemens with two outs, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Grisham’s leadoff swing quickly changed the script for New York, turning the start of the game into the rare kind of quick start the Yankees have not been able to manufacture often enough over the past couple of weeks.

The at-bat also highlighted the matchup against Minnesota’s rookie starter, Mike Paredes. The description notes that Paredes, making just his seventh major league start, generally attacks left-handed hitters with four-seam fastballs up and changeups down and away. In Grisham’s first sequence, Paredes began with a high-velocity four-seamer clocked at 95 mph, prompting Grisham to take a pitch that was out of the zone. He then kept going to his plan, following with another 95-mph fastball aimed toward the top of the strike zone.

Grisham recognized the pitch as it arrived, and the story’s account credits that combination of timing and selectivity. After the Yankees’ early deficit, his approach was direct and decisive enough to turn the inning into a momentum swing rather than just an at-bat milestone. With the leadoff homer, New York found a path to the win that depended less on multi-at-bat rallies and more on one big moment landing at exactly the right time.

The context around Grisham’s return matters, because it frames why a single home run can land with extra weight in July. The at-bat report states that Grisham’s hamstring strain sidelined him beginning June 12, and he returned to the lineup after being activated that day. Separate reporting around the Yankees’ moves before the Twins series described his reinstatement from the injured list after a rehab assignment, placing his return in a broader set of roster adjustments.

Grisham was not the only factor in the Yankees’ win, but he became the centerpiece of it. The Yankees’ summer has included extended periods where multiple parts of the lineup and pitching staff fail to stabilize at once, and the July 3 victory is characterized as one of the rare instances where the team managed to get a favorable start against an opponent that struck first. The at-bat feature also places the game inside a wider frustration, noting New York had lost 12 of its previous 16 games entering that stretch.

Going forward, Grisham’s impact is less about one leadoff home run and more about whether the Yankees can turn his return into consistent production from their outfield spot. If he can carry over the timing from this first at-bat back, it gives New York a playable piece at a time when the margin for error shrinks during a long season. The next question will be whether his hamstring holds up as he settles into a normal rhythm after the injury, and whether his presence helps the Yankees’ leadoff and early-inning attack stay steadier than it has been in recent games.

For Minnesota, the same at-bat also offers a quick evaluation window for a rookie starter learning how to handle major league power and discipline in high-leverage early innings. Paredes began with intent and maintained his velocity, but the sequence ends with a lesson about location and recognition against a hitter returning from the injured list.

For New York fans, the takeaway is straightforward. Grisham’s first swing back did what the Yankees needed, immediately altering the start of the game and helping produce a result that momentarily ends the sense of drift that has followed them through this summer stretch.