Yankees 4, Twins 3
The New York Yankees failed to homer for the first time this season but still held on for a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins Thursday afternoon.
A.J. Burnett (2-0) allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out five in six innings. The righthander improved to 7-0 in April in pinstripes. He only really got into trouble in the fourth when Jim Thome and Jason Kubel each hit doubles to take a brief 2-1 lead.
The Bombers (4-2) answered back with three runs in the bottom half, as Andruw Jones ripped a double, followed by RBI singles courtesy of Russell Martin and Brett Gardner off Francisco Liriano (0-2). It was Gardner’s first RBI of the season, and it came from the ninth spot in the order. The leftfielder started the year as the leadoff hitter. Liriano struck out five and gave up four hits and walked three in five innings.
Mariano Rivera closed out the game for his fourth save, but the most upbeat member of the Yankees bullpen was Rafael Soriano. The high-priced setup man threw just 10 pitches in a scoreless eighth inning, just two days after walking three Twins and blowing a four-run lead.
The Yankees hit the road against the Boston Red Sox (0-6) Friday, while the Twins have their home opener against the Oakland Athletics (2-4).