Yankees Win Streak Hits 7; Build on Wild Card Lead

 YANKEES 7 - TWINS 5 

It got a little hairy late, but the Yankees held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 7-5 to secure their seventh straight victory, all while increasing their lead over Oakland for the top wild card slot to one whole game. 

Luke Voit, who had campaigned through the media for more playing time got just that, and leading off for that matter. Voit's two run double in the third inning, plated Tyler Wade and Kyle Higashioka to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. They would not look back. 

After a Anthony Rizzo sac fly later in the third inning made it 4-0, Higashioka's two-run bomb to left put the Yankees up 6-0. 

For a while Jamison Tallion was cruising for the Yankees. He held the Twins scoreless on one hit through five innings, but couldn't get out of the sixth when he allowed three runs to score as Minnesota crept back into the game. 

The Twins would get as close as 6-4 on a Jorge Polanco  RBI single in the eighth inning before Giancarlo Stanton answered in the bottom half of the eighth with a solo homer to make it 7-4. 

The Yankees are now the 4th American League team to hit the 70-win mark, joining the Rays (75), A's (71) and White Sox (71). 

New York is a remarkable 29-11 since they were at .500 back on July 4.