| Back Home | Stats | Pictures | Collectibles | Profile | Moose Watch | News/Highlights |

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees couldn't get rid of the Minnesota Twins soon enough.

With one of the surprise teams in the American League out of town, the Yankees welcomed one of the worst and pounded their way to a 14-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The Yankees were held to six runs and 16 hits in three games against the Minnesota Twins, who took two of three to win a season series against New York for the first time since 1991.

But New York batted around three times in the opener of a tha one-half game lead atop the AL East.

Each starter had at least one hit and one RBI for the Yankees, who scored five runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth for a 9-0 lead.

"We need contributions from everybody because that's how we've been successful over the years," Torre said. "We did a lot of good things tonight, not the least of which is we swung the bats."

A 9-0 lead was more than enough for Mike Mussina (4-3), who gave up four runs in six innings and won his second straight start against the team he left via free agency in the offseason.

New York totaled six runs in Mussina's previous two starts.

"That's a lot for me," he said. "That's a lot for anyone."

Mussina left after the sixth inning with a bruised left calf suffered on a comebacker. Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neill fouled a ball off his right ankle in the fourth and left after the inning.

Rookie Willis Roberts (4-2) entered the game 3-0 with an AL-best 0.96 ERA on the road but suffered his second straight loss to New York. He gave up nine runs in three-plus innings.

"I don't understand what happened tonight," said Roberts, who made his first appearance at Yankee Stadium. "I lost my concentration a little bit."

Roberts allowed five batters in a row to reach in the first. Derek Jeter started it with a one-out single and Tino Martinez followed a pair of walks with a two-run single.

Jorge Posada added an RBI hit to center field before David Justice popped out. But Soriano came through with a two-run double for a 5-0 lead.

Soriano, Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch started the bottom of the fourth with doubles before Roberts walked Jeter. That was the last batter he faced.

After grounding a ball off his ankle, O'Neill smacked a two-run double off Chuck McElroy but was thrown out trying to go to third on the throw home.

The Yankees later loaded the bases in the fourth but failed to add to their 9-0 lead.

Roberts, who began the sre hits in the inning but had a 9-3 lead when Anderson flied out to deep center to end the frame.

"It went so smoothly for the first four innings. It was a surprise," Mussina said. "It went to the other end of the scale where everything I threw was hit."

Mussina allowed a leadoff homer to Mike Kinkade in the sixth and later was hit with a grounball by Richard. He got out of the inning with a 9-4 lead but did not return.

"It's sore, but I'm walking around fine," Mussina said. "So it's not that big of a deal."

"We have an off day on Monday, so if we we need to, we can give him an extra day," Torre said.

A three-time All-Star in 10 years with the Orioles, Mussina has won his last three starts. He held his former team to one run over seven innings on Sunday in his return to Camden Yards.

Ramiro Mendoza recorded a mop-up save, his second, giving up a run over the final three inningts or two RBI, Brosius added an RBI single for his 500th career RBI.

"We hit really well as a team all the way through the lineup," he said. "One through nine, everybody got something."

Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken played in his 2,900th career game and went 1-for-4. He was robbed of a homer by left fielder Clay Bellinger in the ninth.