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TANAKA ON TOP
Yankees pitcher gets support for league-leading 12th win
spt ap Tanaka
New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka throws against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning of a baseball game on Thursday in Minneapolis. - photo by The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Beltran gave the foundering Yankees a jolt with a three-run homer Thursday night, lifting Masahiro Tanaka to his major league-leading 12th win and helping New York end a season-worst five-game skid with a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins.Zelous Wheeler homered in his big league debut after eight years in the minors. David Robertson notched his 19th save with a hitless ninth inning and the Yankees started an 11-game road trip with a sigh-of-relief performance that put their record back at the .500 mark.Phil Hughes (8-5) was rolling right along against his former team, leading 2-0 until Beltran’s big hit cleared the tall wall above right field following consecutive singles to start the fifth. Wheeler went deep two batters later.Tanaka (12-3) allowed a season-high four runs.Wheeler had a single to help spark the three-run rally in the seventh, too, scoring on Brett Gardner’s single after a one-out RBI double by Brendan Ryan chased Hughes.