Alex Rodriguez hit his 19th career grand slam in the seventh inning to lift the New York Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

Brett Gardner homered and Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira each had two hits for the Yankees, who pushed their home record to 11-2 after having lost four of five on the road.

New York held a 3-2 lead in the seventh before Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau cracked back-to-back RBI hits off Damaso Marte (1-0) to put the Twins on top, 4-3. But Minnesota could not hold the advantage in the bottom of the frame as Scott Baker allowed a single to Francisco Cervelli and a double to Derek Jeter leading off the inning.

Brian Duensing replaced Baker (4-3) and got Gardner to fly out before walking Teixeira to load the bases. Minnesota brought in right-hander Matt Guerrier to pitch to Rodriguez, who drove an 0-1 pitch into the left-field seats for his fourth homer of the year.

Francisco Cervelli added an RBI triple in the eighth to cap the scoring.

A.J. Burnett pitched well for New York but did not factor in the decision, bouncing back from his worst start of the season to allow three runs - two earned - and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Joba Chamberlain struck out the side in a perfect eighth and Mariano Rivera pitched a spotless ninth in a non-save situation.

Mauer finished the night 3-for-4 with a solo homer for the Twins, who have dropped two of three.