Behind Burnett, Yankees defeat Twins 4-3

Written by: Andrew Fletcher on 8th July 2009

Behind Burnett, Yankees defeat Twins 4-3 | read this item

A.J. Burnett fought bouts of wildness Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome, including allowing four walks and three wild pitches. However, the Yankees’ bats provided just enough offense, as they defeated the Twins 4-3 to clinch their fifth straight series win.

Burnett pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while only striking out two. He was particularly wild in the third inning after being staken to a 3-0 lead, when he threw two wild pitches, with one even resulting in a run scored for Minnesota.

The Yankees built that 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Three straight singles with one out loaded the bases for Nick Swisher. He grounded out to the pitch to drive in the team’s first run. Brett Gardner was up next with runners on second and third. He lined a pitch to center to drive in both of those runners.

However, that lead was almost evaporated after Burnett’s wild pitch and Joe Mauer‘s RBI double. After that, Burnett induced a Justin Morneau groundout to end the threat.

The Yankees scored a much-needed insurance run in the fifth inning. Derek Jeter led off with a double of the left center field wall. After Johnny Damon flew out, Mark Teixeira walked to bring up Alex Rodriguez. He singled to left to drive in Jeter and give the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

It would prove to be a huge run, as Joe Mauer hit a solo home run against reliever Phil Coke in the seventh inning. Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera followed Coke out of the bullpen, with the latter picking up his 22nd save of the season.

The Yankees have now won all six meetings against the Twins this season. They have also won 12 of their last 14 games overall to reach 16 games over .500, their highest mark this season. Alfredo Aceves takes the ball tomorrow afternoon in his first start of the season.