With one final road trip left on the season, the New York Yankees were looking to put as much distance as they possibly can between themselves and the Baltimore Orioles.
They got things started off the right way in Minnesota on Monday night, defeating the Twins 6-3 to extend their lead in the American League East.
New York hit four home runs and veteran Andy Pettitte pitched another strong game in his second start since returning from an ankle injury, throwing six innings of no run ball.
"I'm happy to get through it, happy to give us a good start," Pettitte told the Associated Press, adding: "It's just there's definitely some room for me to improve."
The Yankees brought their division lead to 1 ½ games over Baltimore, who split two games on Monday with the Toronto Blue Jays. It's the first time since Sept. 2 that the margin has been more than one game. According to ESPN.com and STATS research, that 21-day stretch during which the Yankees and Orioles were separated by one game or less was the second longest in Major League Baseball history, the most days since 1897.
"Any time you can make it bigger than it's been, it's nice," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
The Yankees have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning 10 of the past 12 games, including a 14-inning epic against the Oakland A's on Saturday.
"Right now I feel like everything is kind of rolling for us. It's real calm in here. It's relaxed. Guys are having a ton of fun," said Nick Swisher.
The Yankees got off to an early lead, adding three runs in the first inning. Derek Jeter scored on Robinson Cano's grounder and Nick Swisher hit a two-run home run with two outs that brought home Ichicro Suzuki.
In the fourth inning, Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson hit a booming home run into the second deck of Target Field, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead. The hit was Granderson's 40th home run of the year, making him the first Yankee since Jason Giambi to have back-to-back seasons with that many home runs.
Granderson made an exceptional play on defense in the bottom of the inning, saving a run when he threw out Ryan Doumit from center field at home plate on a laser throw to catcher Russell Martin, who applied the tag. The play was close, but Martin grazed Doumit's shoulder just before he touched home plate.
The Yankees extended the lead in the seventh inning when Raul Ibanez hit a home run that traveled 391 feet. Ibanez has been hitting on a tear lately, with three home runs in the last three games, including the game-tying homer in the 14-inning game on Saturday. Eric Chavez added a solo home run to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead.
The Twins scored one in the eighth inning and two in the ninth, but never had a chance to tie the game.
Minnesota starter Liam Hendriks got rocked by the Yankees, giving up six runs on eight hits, including four home runs.
"It's a good lineup. There's no breaks in it. There's no breathers," said Hendriks.
Pettitte was stellar for the Yankees and extended his unbeaten streak against the Twins to 12 games. He gave up seven hits and one walk while striking out three.
"I love this guy. There's nothing that fazes him," Swisher said, adding: "You can only just look at that and be like, 'Man, I want to be like that.'"
Derek Jeter extended his hit streak to 18 games with a single in the ninth inning and has been hitting .333 in September.
The Yankees have nine games left on the season, all against opponents with records under .500, including two more against the Twins, four with the Blue Jays and three against the Boston Red Sox.
New York's Phil Hughes will face off against Javier Vasquez of the Twins on Tuesday night.
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