Offense Leads Way To 6th Straight

It wasn't another walkoff, but it sure wasn't easy.

Mark Teixeira homered twice and the Yankees survived some shaky pitching to hold off the Twins 7-6 Monday at Yankee Stadium for a four-game sweep of Minnesota and their sixth straight victory. The Yankees are 21-17, 4-1/2 games behind the first-place Jays and one behind the Red Sox.

Andy Pettitte did not have his best start, allowing four runs on 12 hits and one walk in 6-2/3 innings. It's the only time a Yankees starter has given up more that three runs during the winning streak. Still, he battled like a veteran should and was good enough to improve to 4-1.

Pettitte ran into trouble early, allowing two runs in the first. It was the third consecutive game in which Pettitte has allowed a first inning run. You could tell he just wasn't sharp and the offense was going to have to bail him out.

No problem.

The Yankees sent 10 men to the plate in the first, scoring six runs on eight hits, highlight by consecutive homers by Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Teixeira's was a three-run blast. A-Rod has homered in each of the last three games. Melky Cabrera and Francisco Cervelli also had RBI singles as knocked out Glen Perkins after two-thirds of an inning.

But with Mariano Rivera unavailable after pitching three innings over the last two days, you had to suspect six runs might not be enough.

And when Michael Cuddyer homered in the fourth and Twins scratched out another run in the sixth, you knew for sure the Yankees would need more.

And it appeared the Yanks would get that needed tack-on run in the sixth.

Cabrera and Ramiro Pena singled to lead off and were moved to second and third on Cervelli's sacrifice. With Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon due up, surely the Yanks would be able to push across at least one.

But the Yankees have had their share of struggles in these situations, and Jeter and Damon both struck out to waste the opportunity.

Fortunately for them, Teixeira got that needed run in the seventh, leading off with a homer. He's been red-hot since A-Rod returned to the lineup May 8, going 13-for-38 (.342) with five homers and 13 RBI.

Turns out, that run was huge. Denard Span homered off Edwar Ramirez in the eighth to make it 7-5. Phil Coke struck out Justin Morneau to end that inning, but Coke struggled through the ninth, allowing a run on two walks and a wild pitch. Still he managed to get that last out, earning his first save and the first save by a lefthander for the Yankees since Chris Hammons in 2003.

The good news for the bullpen is Brian Bruney is expected to be activated Tuesday. Coke has been called on in big spots and has done a pretty good job, but he's clearly tiring. He's allowed a run in each of his last three outings.

"I’m gassed,” Coke told reporters after the game. “I actually walked up to [Rivera] in the back and said, ‘Hey, you’re way better at that than me.’ And he said to me, ‘It doesn’t matter. You got the job done.’”

Bruney will resume the eighth inning role and Joe Girardi should be able to give Coke a little break before hand the seventh inning over to him.

The big question is who will the Yankees release or send down for Bruney? If it were up to me, I'd get rid of Veras. He came on with two on and two outs in the seventh and walked the first batter he faced before getting Carlos Gomez to fly out to center. He's struggled with his control all season and it's becoming increasingly difficult to trust him.

Also of note, Chien-Ming Wang will throw a bullpen session Tuesday after which the Yankees will determine a course of action.

Regardless of whether Wang returns this weekend or needs another rehab start, the Yankees are getting healthy, just in time to help them get on a big roll.

Runners In Scoring Position
Monday
3-for-9 (.333)
Season
86-for-345 (.249)

Up Next
Tuesday vs. Orioles, 7:05 p.m., Local TV (check your listings)
Brad Bergesen (1-1, 5.27 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (3-3, 3.70)

Sabathia has had two consecutive strong starts and is looking like the ace who dominated for the Brewers last season and won the AL Cy Young in 2007. The Yankees need Sabathia to go at least seven innings to give the bullpen a bit of a break.