NEW YORK (AP) – CC Sabathia recovered from a shaky start to pitch six innings, Brett Gardner had a pair of tying hits, and the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2, on Tuesday to ensure their sixth straight series win.
With their ninth victory in 11 games, the Yankees remained three games behind AL East-leading Boston and opened a six-game lead over the Twins for the top AL wild card. At 84-67, the Yankees are 17 games over .500 for the first time since September 2015.
Minnesota, which started the night 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the second AL wild card, has lost four of five.