NEW YORK 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Saturday, May 18.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Mike Trombley struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ted Lilly struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk.  Bernie Williams was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Four consecutive singles produced two first-inning runs for the Yankees.  Tom Prince singled home a run in the second to cut the lead to 2-1 and Mohr's RBI double in the sixth tied it 2-2.  In the bottom of the sixth, however, New York opened the inning with a pair of singles, bringing in Bob Wells.  He gave up a three-run homer to Alfonso Soriano to put the Yankees in the lead to stay.  Shane Spencer singled home an insurance run in the seventh.  The Twins put two on with none out in the eighth, but their last six batters were retired.

WP:  Lilly (1-3).  LP:  Tony Fiore (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buchanan was at DH, going 0-for-4...Kielty was again at first base.  He raised his average to .329...Casey Blake was at third base, going 0-for-4...Prince was in at catcher and was 1-for-4, making his average .333...Denny Hocking was at second, going 0-for-4...Tony Fiore made an emergency start, one of two he would make in 2002 and the only two starts of his career.  He had a fine year in 2002, going 10-3, 3.16, 1.29 WHIP.  If you take out those two starts, though, he's even better:  9-2, 2.79, 1.02 WHIP...Torii Hunter was 1-for-4, making his average .339...Mohr raised his average to .318...This would be the last good outing of Mike Trombley's career.  He would pitch in just one more game.

Record:  The Twins were 25-19, in first place by a half game over Chicago.