The Minnesota Twins got seven strong innings from their ace, Johan Santana, to defeat the New York Yankees 7-3 in the Bronx Wednesday night. The win ended a 10-game regular season losing streak at Yankee Stadium for the Twins.
Minnesota has had problems hitting lately and for the first six innings, that seemed to continue as the Twins were just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Three runs in the seventh inning off of Yankees reliever Tanyon Sturtze broke the game open.
The real story for the Twins was the strong pitching of Santana which they will need more of if they are to contend for the post season this year. Santana earned his third straight win by pitching seven scoreless innings and improved his record to 10-5.
'I think everything was working tonight,' Santana told reporters after the game. 'I knew I was facing a tough lineup from top to bottom. I tried to stay aggressive with all my pitches.'
Santana's teammates also felt good about his performance. 'You feel confident you can get a win against anybody when he's going,' Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said.
Joe Nathan earned his 28th save by recording the final four outs. Yankees starter Al Leiter struggled with his control and took the loss for New York, falling to 1-2. Leiter walked five batters and hit another. In just five innings, the veteran threw 115 pitches and struck out just two.
'I created a lot of my own trouble,' Leiter told the Associated Press. 'The basis for every starter is the first couple of innings. I was scrambling right away.'
The Twins took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Justin Morneau in the third inning. Shannon Stewart's two-run double highlighted a three-run seventh inning for Minnesota. Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning while Morneau added a solo shot in the ninth to end the scoring.
The loss dropped the Yankees two games behind the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Minnesota is a distant 11 games back in the AL Central but is just one-half game behind the Oakland Athletics in the AL wild card race.
