Nova brilliant in 3-0 victory over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the biggest difference between rookie Ivan Nova and A.J. Burnett, look no further than Sunday's's fifth inning.

After Jim Thome led off with a single, Danny Valencia lifted a fly ball to medium right-center. Centerfielder Curtis Granderson and rightfielder Nick Swisher converged and both appeared to be calling for the ball. At the last moment, they pulled up and it fell between them, putting runners at second and third with none out.

Seeming very much untroubled, Nova struck out Rene Tosoni on an 87-mph slider, struck out Matt Tolbert on an 88-mph slider in the dirt, and got out of the inning when Drew Butera grounded weakly to first.

It felt like a game-changing sequence, and after the Yankees broke the scoreless tie in the sixth on Russell Martin's sacrifice fly, they went on to beat the Twins, 3-0, at Target Field.

"That game, to me, was won in the fifth inning," Joe Girardi said. "We messed up the fly ball, he's got second and third with no outs and he gets out of the inning. That was the ballgame."

The Yankees (77-48), who are off today, kept their half-game lead over Boston and finished this trip 5-2.

Nova (13-4, 3.97) won his fifth straight start since being recalled from Triple-A. He has not lost since June 3 and has the most wins by a Yankees rookie since Ron Davis' 14 in 1979. Nova held the Twins to five hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out five. He stranded six, including the two in the critical fifth.

"You have to keep your eyes on the game," Nova said. "In the past, something like that happened to me, I'd get out of control."

At that point Nova, 24, had no idea he inadvertently was enunciating one of Burnett's biggest issues. "In that situation, you have to stay focused," Nova said. "I went right back to the hitter and got the out."

Granderson said after the mistake Nova "kicked it into another gear."

In the seventh, Granderson and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back home runs, with Granderson's an inside-the-parker -- the third of his career -- to make it 3-0. It was Granderson's 35th, one behind the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista for the major-league lead, and the 34th for Teixeira.

"I could hear our dugout saying 'Keep going,' " Granderson said. "I wasn't sure I was going to make it because I could see their catcher getting ready to make a play. Luckily, the throw was up the line and gave me the back side of the plate."

David Robertson worked out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth to make it 27 consecutive scoreless road outings, and Mariano Rivera earned his 33rd save with a perfect ninth.

Granderson and Swisher chalked up their fifth-inning misplay to a miscommunication.

"I came too far out of my range and it was easily Swisher's ball," Granderson said.

Said Swisher: "I didn't hear him until he was right there. All of a sudden, we both gator-armed it. We're going to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Both felt bailed out by Nova, who was squeezed out of the rotation in a numbers crunch in early July.

"Now that he's back," Swisher said, "he's not leaving."

Notes & quotes: Teixeira bobbled a grounder in the third, snapping his personal-best errorless streak at 87 games. "I backed up on the ball,'' he said, "and then once I backed up on it, I had to go real fast and it was not a good situation." . . . To make room for Alex Rodriguez (0-for-5), the Yankees sent pitcher Aaron Laffey to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre . . . Freddy Garcia (finger) will start Monday night for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He is expected to start in the doubleheader Saturday in Baltimore.