Torres leads Yankees to 5-1 win and sweep of Twins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gleyber Torres got New York going with a second-inning home run, scored on each of his two doubles and made a pair of sparkling defensive plays, fueling the Yankees to a 5-1 victory over Minnesota on Monday night to finish yet another sweep of the Twins and advance to the AL Championship Series.

Didi Gregorius hit two RBI singles and Cameron Maybin homered for the Yankees, who stretched their postseason winning streak over the Twins to 13 straight games.

"The way we played tonight was championship-caliber baseball," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said during the clubhouse celebration. "Just really proud of the effort, 'cause I know we wanted to finish this off and get back home."

Following a 103-win regular season and its first AL East title since 2012, New York, starts the AL Championship Series on Saturday, at home against Tampa Bay or at Houston.

"We're focused already to the second series," Torres said.

AL Central champion Minnesota became the first 100-win team swept in the Division Series. The Twins are 2-16 against the Yankees in the playoffs since the 2004 ALDS opener. Outscored 23-7 in the series, they batted just .218 and after hitting a record 307 homers had just four in the Division Series, all solo shots.

Minnesota has lost 16 consecutive postseason games, matching the North American major sports record held by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL from 1975-79.

"Our guys should be walking out of that clubhouse with our heads held high, and they never stopped playing," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We got beat over the last three days, and there's no way around that. That's going to happen from time to time, but what an amazing season it was."

Yankees starter Luis Severino pitched out of trouble for four scoreless innings in just his...

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