MINNEAPOLIS -- The New York Yankees have a bunch of proud, highly paid and accomplished hitters who have been performing much of this season as if they are well past their prime. Dellin Betances Yankees Jersey . Signs of a turnaround have emerged in this series at Minnesota. Brian Roberts had three doubles and a triple for the first four-extra-base-hit game of his 14-year career, and the Yankees used their bullpen to preserve a 6-5 win over the Twins on Friday. "Hitting is contagious. I think it goes both ways," said Roberts, who raised his batting average by 11 points to .248. "When a couple guys start struggling, sometimes everybody starts struggling. A couple guys start hitting, it can kind of roll. So hopefully well fall in that direction." David Huff (2-0), the first of four New York relievers, struck out three in three perfect innings after starter Chase Whitley faltered. David Robertson notched his 20th save in the ninth. "Its always big when the bullpen can pick up six innings and we still get a win out of it," Robertson said. The veterans in the lineup did the heavy lifting early on. Jacoby Ellsbury delivered a two-run single in the second to help finish off Twins starter Kyle Gibson (7-7), and the Yankees had 10 hits for the second straight game. "It was probably the most frustrating part, looking back," Gibson said of Ellsburys hit that pushed the lead to 6-1. Gibson brought the American Leagues best home-ballpark ERA among qualified pitchers at 1.54, but he only lasted two innings against the Yankees. One of the runs on his line was unearned, due to a passed ball by Kurt Suzuki that let Mark Teixeira move up and later score on Carlos Beltrans sacrifice fly in the first, but almost every ball was hit hard. "They jumped on him and never let him breathe," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Brett Gardner led off the game with a triple, Roberts drove him in with a double and Gibson was on his way to that kind of day. He gave up six hits and one walk, without any strikeouts. Teixeira had an RBI double, and Brendan Ryan added a sacrifice fly. "Weve said all along these guys are good hitters, and eventually its going to turn," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. The matchup on the mound between Whitley and Gibson quickly deteriorated, but a legitimate duel between Huff and Sam Deduno developed. Whitley gave up eight hits, four runs and one walk in three innings with four strikeouts, putting his spot in the injury-depleted rotation in a tenuous place. The rookie was unbeaten in his first seven starts, allowing three runs or fewer each time, but he has allowed a whopping 27 hits and 17 runs in 10 1-3 innings over his last three turns. "Its very frustrating, but youve got to keep working to give the team a chance to win," Whitley said. Brian Dozier led off the Minnesota first with his 16th homer, and Chris Colabello went deep the next inning in his first at-bat since May 23. Oswaldo Arcia had an RBI triple and scored on Trevor Plouffes single to pull the Twins within two before Huff took charge. "Whether he goes eight or he goes three, were always going to be ready for him. Were there to back him up and get him through the game," Huff said. Dellin Betances dodged trouble in the eighth inning after Colabello cut the lead to one with an RBI groundout. Teixeira made a diving stop to his right at first base on Eduardo Escobars sharp grounder, recovering in time to throw to Betances for the third out with a runner on third. This Independence Day game, pitting the Yankees and Twins at Target Field for the second straight year, was preceded by a ceremony for the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrigs moving farewell address, shortly after he was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disease that later took his name. Players from both teams read prerecorded portions of the speech. NOTES: The Yankees are 15-3 at Target Field, including two post-season wins. ... University of Minnesota basketball coach and lifelong Yankees fan Richard Pitino sat in the first row behind home plate. ... David Phelps (3-4, 4.26 ERA) will pitch for the Yankees Saturday, and Yohan Pino (0-2, 6.32 ERA) will take the mound for the Twins. The Twins will honour retiring Yankees captain Derek Jeter before the game with a farewell gift. Jeter had Friday off to rest. Brendan Ryan played SS instead. Kyle Higashioka Yankees Jersey . Irving played 10 minutes Sunday night before going to the locker room. He had two points and four assists, missing all five of his shots. The All-Star game MVP is the top scorer among Eastern Conference point guards with 21. Tyler Lyons Jersey . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1641g-joe-dimaggio-jersey-yankees.html . - The Baltimore Ravens and tight end Dennis Pitta reached agreement on a five-year contract Friday.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, At 8:54 in the third period of Thursdays game between Pittsburgh and Detroit, James Neal was assessed an interference penalty on Luke Glendening for moving his stick towards the board after Glendening had lost it earlier. Glendening was not trying to retrieve it and Neals actions did not interfere with the play. According to rule 53.2 it would appear that the interference call is not justified. Is there something I am missing? Mathieu BenoitSaint John, NB Mathieu: Your question was selected from one of ten pertaining to the interference penalty called against James Neal for shooting Luke Glendenings stick to the side boards with the Penguins on the power play. A very tricky rule application was created after Glendening lost his stick at the top of the Wings end zone face-off circle following an attempted poke-check on James Neal. Glendening lost his one handed grip through the check motion which caused the stick to travel 15 feet to the bottom of the circle close to the goal line where teammate Kyle Quincey was positioned. Quincey then shot/slid Glendenings stick to a carefully placed location out into the high slot near where Glendening was attempting to defend without his stick. Herein lies the first potential rule violation on this play! Rule 10.3 states that a player who has lost or broken his stick may only receive a stick at his own players bench or be handed one from a teammate on the ice. A player will be penalized if he throws, tosses, slides or shoots a stick to a teammate on the ice. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Luke Glendening was fronting Matt Niskanen who had the puck near the point. As such, Glendening was unable to pick up the attempted helper from Quincey. If Luke Glendening had picked up his stick at that moment, Kyle Quincey shouldd receive a minor penalty placing the Wings two men short for a minute and forty seconds! James Neal, from the high slot position just behind Glendening, felt his skate contact the stick that had been illegally passed by Quincey. Yogi Berra Jersey. I am quite certain that James Neal was unaware of the potential penalty to Quincey if Luke Glendening had picked up the twig. Instead, Neal jockeyed around Glendening with a cute series of deliberate skate drag maneuvers that moved the stick safely out of the reach of the Red Wing defender and effectively nullified the potential penalty to Quincey. Even though Glendening moved away from the immediate area of the stick to defend the opposite side point, it was incumbent upon James Neal to simply step away from the stick and leave it in the position it now rested. Once Neal shot Luke Glendenings stick 30 plus feet to the sidewall he violated rule 56.2 by effectively preventing Glendening from regaining possession of it. The inability Neal created for Glendening to retrieve his stick was further compounded by the fact that the Red Wings were already a man down by virtue of the penalty being served by Brendan Smith. The eventual outcome of this play highlights the need for players to clearly understand the rules. Just 20 seconds into a Penguins power play once Luke Glendening lost his hockey stick, things quickly transitioned from a potential penalty to Kyle Quincey that would have placed the Wings two men short; to additional freedom of end zone puck movement the Penguins enjoyed once Glendening lost his stick; to the creation of a four-on-four when James Neal was penalized for interference. I offer the following advice to players: If you encounter a stick lying on the ice that isnt broken, think twice before relocating it. It the stick is clearly broken, make sure any action taken to remove or discard the broken portion doesnt interfere with the movements of the puck or an opposing player! ' ' '