Girardi can't put finger on Yanks' success vs. Twins

NEW YORK -- His team's success against the Twins is a little bit surprising to Joe Girardi. Minnesota's been a strong organization for the past decade, and when the two sides meet, they tend to play games like Friday night's contest -- long, close and wildly competitive.

Girardi's first year as New York's manager taught him just what this series has been like. In 2008, the Yankees won all seven games against the Twins, but two went into extra innings and only one was decided by more than two runs.

Five years later, Girardi still can't put his finger on it.

"It's hard for me to say, because it seems like so many of the games are like the games [Friday] night, where it's a hit here, a hit there," Girardi said.

New York entered Saturday off to a 5-0 start against Minnesota. But this season, the margins had been a bit bigger, with Robinson Cano leading the way by going 8-for-17 with three home runs and 10 RBIs against the Twins entering play Saturday.

It still doesn't make much sense, but that's the nature of baseball, and the nature of Yankees-Twins series is that New York tends to win.

"The Twins have been a successful organization over the past 10 years," Girardi said, "and we've probably been fortunate to win as many games as we have."