A.J. Burnett pitched solid six innings and the New York Yankees scored three runs in the fourth inning to defeat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx Thursday afternoon. Burnett allowed two runs, five hits and struck out five to collect his second 'W' of the year, while Andruw Jones, Russell Martin and Brett Gardner each collected RBI in the fourth to help give the Yankees a 4-2 advantage.
From there, Joba Chamberlain gave up an unearned run in the top of the seventh, Rafael Soriano allowed just a hit in the eighth and Mariano Rivera closed out the ninth to polish off the three-game series, which featured the Yankees collecting two wins. Derek Jeter went 2-for-3 for New York, which improved to 4-2 overall. Minnesota drops to 2-4.
Losing pitcher Francisco Liriano allowed four runs on just four hits in five innings.
The New York victory creates solid momentum heading into this weekend's anticipated series against the Boston Red Sox, who lost 1-0 to the Cleveland Indians Thursday afternoon and dropped its sixth consecutive game to start the season.
The pitching match-ups for this weekend's series looks like this: Friday -- Phil Hughes vs. John Lackey; Saturday -- Ivan Nova vs. Clay Buchholz; Sunday -- CC Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett.
-- Make sure to check out SB Nation New York and SB Nation's Pinstripe Alley for complete coverage of this weekend's series against Boston.