Tyler Duffey set down the first 17 Yankees batters and wound up pitching two-hit ball for eight innings while the Minnesota Twins backed him with six home runs to beat New York 7-1 Sunday.
Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Max Kepler hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning to help Minnesota end a three-game skid. Danny Santana, Eduardo Nunez and Juan Centeno also connected.
Duffey (3-6) pitched perfect ball until Aaron Hicks lined a clean double into the right-field corner with two outs in the sixth. Walking back to the dugout after the inning ended, Duffey passed Hicks and tapped his former Twins teammate with his glove.
Facing all the Yankees batters for the first time, Duffey struck out eight, walked none and stopped a team that had won three in a row. The 25-year-old righty began the day with a 6.18 ERA, was 0-3 in his last five starts and had been hit hard in seven straight outings.
