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. Chris Mullin Authentic 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. Stephen Curry Swingman Jersey . - The Seattle Seahawks say their decision to limit ticket sales for the NFC championship game to certain states was due to concerns over ticket brokers. Klay Thompson Jersey .C. -- Andrea Petkovic remembered why she started playing tennis and along the way gave everyone else a reminder about how talented she is when shes at her best.CHICAGO -- No Chicago White Sox were more maligned than catcher Tyler Flowers and the teams bullpen in the early months of the season. So when they flipped the script Friday night, they could only hope it was the sign of better things to come. Flowers, who entered with a .218 batting average, drove in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning double, and four pitchers combined to retire the final 22 batters in the White Soxs 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros. "Yeah, its a good time," Flower said. "Ive been feeling better for the last 10 games maybe. I havent had a whole lot of success statistically, but Ive been seeing the ball a lot better." Alejandro De Aza singled off Scott Feldman and stole second before Flowers delivered the game-winning hit. He entered the game with only 12 hits in his last 116 at-bats. "There were some good things that happened that you like to see coming out of the break." manager Robin Ventura said. Namely, the performances of Daniel Webb, Ronald Belisario and Zach Putnam, who were flawless out of the bullpen. Webb (5-2) retired six consecutive batters in relief of Jose Quintana to earn the victory. Belisario and Putnam pitched a scoreless inning apiece, and Putnam earned his second save. After Quintana allowed a pair of unearned runs, he set down his final 10 batters. The left-hander allowed three hits and two walks in five innings. Houston didnt have a baserunner after Jose Altuve singled with two outs in the second inning. "Q did a great job. Webb and Bel did great jobs," Putnam said. "We hit the ball and made some plays. It was a good way to get back in the second half. "The four days (off) couldnt have come at a better time. We recharged and just hit the ground running." Feldman (4-7) took a four-hit shutout into the sixtth inning, when Dayan Viciedo hit a two-run homer into the left-centre field bleachers to tie it. Klay Thompson Swingman Jersey. Three batters earlier, Feldman was struck on what he called the back "right cheek" by a smash off the bat of Alexei Ramirez, but said that had no effect on him. Feldman allowed three runs, seven hits and three walks in seven innings. "I just hung a curveball there, and Viciedo didnt miss and put a good swing on it," said Feldman, who figures to be the subject of trade talk this month. "More times than not, if you go deep in the game like that, our guys will come out on top." Aided by a two-base error, Houston took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. After Jon Singletons single eluded Viciedo in right field, Matt Dominguez scored from first base while Singleton continued to third. Robbie Grossman followed with an RBI groundout. Adam Eaton tripled, and Jose Abreu doubled in the first inning, but Chicago failed to take an early lead. Grossman threw out Eaton at the plate on a shallow fly ball to right field, a call upheld by video replay after a White Sox challenge. NOTES: Newest Chicago Bulls members Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic threw out first pitches. ... White Sox LHP Chris Sale will make his first post-All-Star break appearance either Monday or Tuesday, which will give him at least 12 days of rest between starts. He pitched an inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday night. ... After a week of instruction and workouts in Arizona, White Sox first-round draft pick Carlos Rodon will begin his professional career at high Class A Winston-Salem later this month. ... The White Sox signed 31 of their 32 draft picks. The Astros came to terms with 26 of 31. ... The Astros recalled RHP Jake Buchanan from Oklahoma City earlier Friday. RHP David Martinez was optioned to the Triple-A club. 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