NEW YORK _ The unlikely ace was untouchable.
Domingo German didn't just shut the Twins down on Sunday. He made them look silly with a sharp breaking ball and good command.
The right-hander worked quickly over 6 2/3 innings, the perfect elixir for the Yankees on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon in the Bronx. And another home run by Mike Tauchman gave German the support he needed in a 4-1 win before 38,603 fans at Yankee Stadium.
The game was eventually called after a one hour, one minute delay due to rain in the eighth inning in the middle of Brett Gardner's at-bat. It allowed the Yankees to earn their 11th win in 15 games and take two out of three from Minnesota.
New York (19-14) will continue its homestand on Monday with four games against Seattle.
"Guys that we didn't necessarily expect to be major contributors have asserted themselves in that role," manager Aaron Boone said. "They have climbed the ladder in our eyes."
One of those surprises has been German (6-1), who wasn't even expected to make the Yankee rotation.
He threw a career-high 108 pitches on Sunday, striking out seven and allowing only four hits. With his sixth win this season, he even tied Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow for the most in baseball.
German was ineffective in 14 starts last season, but recently developed into a crucial piece on a team decimated by injuries. His role was unclear when the Yankees added James Paxton to a staff with Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, J.A Happ and Masahiro Tanaka. But the 26-year-old gradually moved up the depth chart one injury at a time, then seized the opportunity with a 2.35 season ERA.
The Yankees will need more starts like the one he had Sunday with Paxton (knee inflammation) out about three weeks and Severino (rotator cuff inflammation) not expected to pitch before the All-Star break.
"In a lot of ways too, it's something that hopefully brought us a little closer together as a club," Boone said.
"We've absolutely rallied around the adversity we've had to face. To see those guys come together, support each other and pull for each other, I believe it's only going to make us stronger in the long run."
The Yankees handed German an early two-run lead with the help of a defensive miscue in the second inning.
With the bases loaded and two out, DJ LaMahieu reached on an infield single, drawing a throwing error that scored Brett Gardner from second.
Tauchman crushed a two-run home run in the fourth inning, turning on a full-count pitch with two outs. The 384-foot blast snapped a 3-for-31 slump for the first-year Yankee.
Gleyber Torres also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single to center. Torres is hitting 15-for-45 over that span with a home run and seven RBIs.
With outfielder Clint Frazier set to join the Yankees sometime this week and Aaron Hicks due back soon, the lineup is close to getting some reinforcements.
"Guys are really continuing to contribute to us winning games and that's our focus," Boone said. "But sure, when we're talking amongst each other and getting (health) reports, you get excited knowing that guys are slowly but surely getting healthier."
