MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Even Joe Torre knows the New York Yankees' fast start is every bit as unusual as spectacular.
The Yankees continued the best start in franchise history and their assault on baseball history as Andy Pettitte pitched 7 1/3 solid innings en route to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
It has been quite an anniversary season for the Yankees, who are 14-3 for the first time in their 100-year existence.
A lot of the success can be credited to their rotation, which is the first to start 12-0 since the 1944 St. Louis Browns. Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina are each 3-0, David Wells is 2-0 and Jeff Weaver is 1-0.
"I keep my fingers crossed about them," said Torre, the Yankees' manager. "It's not as if they're not capable of it, but to have all of them pitching as well as they are at the same time is pretty unusual."
Pettitte was sharp, allowing two runs and six hits while walking two and striking out seven. The lefthander threw 63 of 98 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 3.70.
"Tonight, I had good stuff and a good cutter," he said. "I was locating the ball well and getting the ball in to righties. I didn't really have to work the outside corner tonight."
The Yankees' bullpen, which is missing closer Mariano Rivera and top setup man Steve Karsay, also chipped in as Chris Hammond worked out of a jam in the eighth inning and Juan Acevedo did the same in the ninth.
"The bullpen is a final piece for us," Torre said. "It's been doing a good job. Down the line, it will get healthier."
The Yankees have been getting healthy against the Twins for two years, winning 11 straight meetings between the highest and one of the lowest payrolls in baseball since a loss on May 10, 2001.
"It's frustrating with the Yankees," Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said. "But we can't blame anyone for those guys having such a good team."
Hunter made a sensational catch to rob Nick Johnson of a home run, but Bernie Williams and Raul Mondesi went deep for the Yankees, who have a franchise-record 33 homers through 17 games.
"The reason is we're not up there swinging for home runs," Torre said. "To me, a home run comes from a quality at-bat."
Hunter raced back to the fence and timed his jump before bringing back a home run by Johnson for the first out of the sixth inning. It was a typical play by the Gold Glove center fielder, who had the wind knocked out of him.
"This one was as good as any of his," said Torre, who managed Hunter when he robbed Barry Bonds of a home run in last year's All-Star Game. "It's like he doesn't care what he's running into."
Immediately after the play, Joe Mays (2-2) walked Jason Giambi and Williams belted a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left-center field - just out of the reach of a leaping Hunter - for a 3-2 lead.
"That was a big home run," Torre said. "Torii made a great catch on the one before that. You think when he jumps, he's going to make the play. But he didn't."
"If I would have made that catch, it would have been a different game," Hunter said. "But if 'if' was a fifth of Hennessy, we'd all be drunk."
Mondesi gave the Yankees an insurance run in the seventh inning with his third homer in as many games and fifth of the season.
"If you take out those two home runs, we're sitting on a victory right now," said Mays, who yielded four runs and six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. "But New York has a great lineup with a great staff."
The Twins tried rallying in the eighth. Pettitte was replaced by Antonio Osuna after issuing a one-out walk, but Hunter singled, forcing Torre to go to Hammond.
The top lefthander in the bullpen after being signed as a free agent over the winter, Hammond used his complete arsenal to strike out Doug Mientkiewicz and Bobby Kielty, stranding a pair of runners.
"It was a good feeling that I could mix up my pitches as well as I did," said Hammond, who was throwing his changeup some 55 miles per hour and his fastball in the mid-80s. "But there were a lot of nerves and adrenaline flowing."
Hammond recorded two quick outs in the ninth before allowing consecutive singles to Matt LeCroy and Jacque Jones. But Acevedo closed the door, striking out pinch hitter Dustan Mohr to end it.
The Yankees opened the scoring in the first on rookie Hideki Matsui's two-out RBI single. The Twins tied it on Hunter's run-scoring hit in the fourth and grabbed a 2-1 lead on A.J. Pierzynski's RBI single.
