The New York Yankees powered their way past the Minnesota Twins Monday night, hitting four home runs on their way to a 6-3 victory.
Nick Swisher got the slugfest started early in the first inning with his 24th home run of the year to put the Yankees ahead, 3-0. Curtis Granderson extended the lead in the fourth inning with a home run of his own -- a solo blast which put the lead at 4-0. Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez joined the offensive outburst in the seventh inning, each hitting solo home runs to extend the Yankees lead even further, 6-0.
Minnesota finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning on a Pedro Florimon solo home run to cut the lead to 6-1. They scored again in the ninth inning, plating two runs on a Chris Parmelee triple, but their rally fell short as David Robertson closed it out for the Yankees.
Andy Pettitte got the win for New York, his fifth of the season. Pettitte pitched six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and striking out three. For Minnesota, Liam Hendriks got the loss, dropping his record to 1-8 on the season. Hendriks allowed six runs on eight hits in 6 ⅓ innings of work.
With the Baltimore Orioles losing Monday night to the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-5, the Yankees extended their lead to 1 ½ games in the AL East. The Yankees have nine games remaining, while Baltimore has only eight games remaining. Click here for complete MLB standings.
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