Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Minnesota 5, NY Yankees 4
When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 64°
Umpires: Home - Dana DeMuth, 1B - Doug Eddings, 2B - Kerwin Danley, 3B - Paul Nauert
Attendance: 33346
Twins 5, Yankees 4: Denard Span doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs during a four-run seventh inning as host Minnesota battled back to topple New York.

Joe Mauer went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Chris Parmelee doubled in a run for the Twins, who are embracing the spoiler role with wins in three of their last four games against the Detroit Tigers and the Yankees.

Nick Swisher, Russell Martin and Andruw Jones each homered for New York, which maintained its 1 1/2-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. The Orioles lost at home to Toronto on Tuesday.

Phil Hughes (16-13) cruised through the first six innings but loaded the bases with one out in the seventh before being replaced by left-hander Boone Logan. The veteran reliever uncorked a wild pitch to narrow the gap to one run before Span reached down for a 3-2 slider and lined it into the gap in right-center to plate a pair. Mauer made it a 5-3 lead with an RBI single later in the frame.

Casey Fien (2-1) ended up with the win in relief and Jared Burton pitched a perfect eighth. Glen Perkins served up a solo homer to Jones but managed to get the final three outs for his 15th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Yankees SS Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. … New York activated LF Brett Gardner (elbow) from the disabled list. He will likely only serve as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. … Mauer went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .326. He is one of a handful of players chasing Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera (.329) for the batting title, including Jeter (.321).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Yankees   Minnesota
Phil Hughes Player Esmerling Vasquez
Loss W/L No Decision
6.2 IP 6.0
4 Strikeouts 5
6 Hits 7
4.05 ERA 3.00
Hitting
NY Yankees   Minnesota
Robinson Cano Player Joe Mauer
3 Hits 3
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
3 TB 3
1.000 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Yankees 9 3 18 .265 10 8 4 2 0 1
Minnesota 8 0 10 .250 14 4 3 2 0 0