The way New York has been playing lately, the All-Star game might not be the last marquee event at Yankee Stadium.

Bobby Abreu hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs, leading the surging Yankees past the Minnesota Twins 8-2 Tuesday night, their ninth consecutive victory at home.

"We're playing great right now," said Robinson Cano, who is hitting .522 since the All-Star break. "We're doing our job with men on base better than the first half."

Cano had two RBI singles in the win.

The home winning streak is New York's longest since a nine-game run in May 2005.

"You've got to take advantage of being at home," manager Joe Girardi said. "The most important thing to me is that we're playing better."

The Yankees (55-45) reached 10 games over .500 for the first time this year. They moved within 3½ games of first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East, the closest they've been to first since May 14.

Minnesota, which is 1½ games behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central, dropped to 3-18 at Yankee Stadium since the start of the 2002 season. The Twins (55-45) have lost seven straight series in the Bronx.

New York's bullpen came through again after Darrell Rasner was pulled in the sixth. David Robertson (2-0) relieved Rasner with runners at the corners in the sixth and retired Delmon Young on one pitch to keep New York's deficit at 2-1.

Jose Veras pitched a scoreless seventh, Kyle Farnsworth struck out three in a hitless eighth and Dan Giese finished.

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Dallas Braden allowed one run over five innings and Jack Hannahan hit a three-run homer as Oakland ended a six-game losing streak with a win over Tampa Bay.

At Chicago, Mark Buehrle pitched 7Z\c innings and Alexei Ramirez hit the first grand slam of his career for Chicago.Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer, Jermaine Dye had three hits and Jim Thome reached base four times as the White Sox snapped a three-game losing streak.

At Baltimore, Adam Lind had a career-high four hits, including a three-run homer, and light-hitting John McDonald had four RBI for Toronto.

At Seattle, Daisuke Matsuzaka continued his masterful pitching away from Fenway Park, and J.D. Drew hit a first-inning homer for Boston.Matsuzaka (11-1) held Seattle to five hits and shut out Seattle into the eighth, improving to 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in eight starts away from home.

At Anaheim, Calif., Jeff Mathis hit a go-ahead solo homer in the fifth inning to lead Los Angeles.

At Kansas City, Mo., Kenny Rogers pitched six strong innings and Placido Polanco homered and drove in two runs for Detroit.Magglio Ordonez had three of the Tigers' 12 hits and drove in two runs.

In Miami, Rick VandenHurk returned from a long stay in the minor leagues with a slider that baffled the Braves through five hitless innings.Chipper Jones singled off reliever Joe Nelson to lead off the sixth, but no other Atlanta player got a hit all night.

In Phoenix, Yusmeiro Petit made his second big-league start of the season — one night after learning he was scheduled for it.The short notice didn't diminish his effectiveness in five innings and Conor Jackson drove in three runs with a solo homer and two-run double for Arizona.The Cubs are 1-4 since the All-Star break and have lost five of six.

In New York, So Taguchi and Jimmy Rollins had two-run doubles in a six-run ninth, and Philadelphia rallied against New York's makeshift bullpen to take over first place in the NL East.After Johan Santana pitched eight dominant innings, the Mets had to make do without closer Billy Wagner, who had an MRI on his shoulder earlier Tuesday.

In St. Louis, Bill Hall homered to snap a late-inning tie for the second straight game and Milwaukee won its sixth straight.

In Cincinnati, Jeff Keppinger's one-out double in the 11th sent the Reds to a rare victory in a game started by San Diego's Jake Peavy.

In Denver, Ubaldo Jimenez threw a four-hitter in his first career complete game and Ian Stewart homered and drove in four runs for Colorado.

In San Francisco, Bengie Molina hit a two-run homer and a solo shot, and Barry Zito won his second straight decision for San Francisco.