Torres leads Yankees in sweep of Twins
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gleyber Torres got New York going with a second-inning home run, scored on each of his two doubles and made a pair of sparkling defensive plays, fueling the Yankees to a 5-1 victory over Minnesota on Monday night to finish yet another sweep of the Twins and advance to the AL Championship Series.
Didi Gregorius hit two RBI singles and Cameron Maybin homered for the Yankees, who stretched their postseason winning streak over the Twins to 13 straight games.
"The way we played tonight was championship-caliber baseball," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said during the clubhouse celebration. "Just really proud of the effort, 'cause I know we wanted to finish this off and get back home."
Following a 103-win regular season and its first AL East title since 2012, New York, starts the AL Championship Series on Saturday, at home against Tampa Bay or at Houston.
"We're focused already to the second series," Torres said.
AL Central champion Minnesota became the first 100-win team swept in the Division Series. The Twins are 2-16 against the Yankees in the playoffs since the 2004 ALDS opener. Outscored 23-7 in the series, they batted just .218 and after hitting a record 307 homers had just four in the Division Series, all solo shots.
Other results: National League
St. Louis Cardinals 5, Atlanta Braves 4 (10 innings) (Series level 2-2) Washington Nationals 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (Series level 2-2) American League
At St. Petersburg, Florida Tampa Bay Rays 10 Houston Astros 3