Yankees win ninth in a row at home

NEW YORK -- Bobby Abreu hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs, leading the surging New York Yankees past the Minnesota Twins, 8-2, on Tuesday night, their ninth consecutive victory at home.

Derek Jeter had a two-run double and Robinson Cano continued his typical second-half tear with two RBI singles, his fifth straight multihit game since the All-Star break.

New York’s effective bullpen came through again after Darrell Rasner was pulled in the sixth, and the Yankees (55-45) won their fifth consecutive game to go 10 games over .500 for the first time this season. They moved to within 3 1/2 games of first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East. The home winning streak is New York’s longest since a nine-game run in May 2005.

Minnesota (55-45) fell 1 1/2 games behind Chicago in the AL Central.

The Yankees trailed, 2-1, in the sixth before Abreu homered off Kevin Slowey (6-7) to put them ahead. Cano’s RBI single made it 4-2, and New York broke it open in the seventh with four runs, three scoring on back-to-back doubles by Jeter and Abreu.