Yankees 8, Twins 3
C.C. Sabathia settled down after a rocky start to strike out seven over 7 1/3 innings and beat the Twins for the seventh straight time.
Sabathia (1-1) allowed three runs, four hits and one walk and at one point retired 13 consecutive batters. He has not lost to the Twins since 2007, when he was a member of the Cleveland Indians.
Trailing 3-1 in the third, the Yankees surged ahead with a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning. The outburst was highlighted by a two-run single by Chris Stewart and a sacrifice fly from Derek Jeter.
The Yankees pounded out 13 hits, among them a solo home run by Andruw Jones, his second of the season and 422nd of his career.
Francisco Liriano (0-2) took the loss and is now 0-3 in Yankee Stadium. He was tagged for seven hits, four walks and five runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Minnesota’s Josh Willingham hit his league-leading fifth homer of the season, a long solo shot off Sabathia in the second inning.