Craig Breslow threw the inside slider that got too much of the plate, and Rodriguez, batting only .145 after returning from hip surgery that cost him the season's first five weeks, jumped on it, just like the 12th-leading home-run hitter in Baseball history would be expected to.

"I was trying to throw in on his hands and get myself a ground ball," the left-hander Breslow said. "Obviously he was looking in."

Here's what's most painful for the Twins , though -- or at least, almost as excruciating as Mark Teixeira's 4-for-4 day, including two clutch hits that forced extra innings in the first place. Though Breslow resists being pigeonholed, his specialty is left-handed hitters, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be on the mound in that situation.

But things aren't normal at the moment; most of the bullpen Saturday was either not available or not trusted. Jesse Crain, Joe Nathan and Jose Mijares all required a day off after a heavy workload this week, R.A. Dickey was in reserve in case of an extra-long game, Luis Ayala has given up hits in all but two of his 15 appearances, and Matt Guerrier had already pitched two strong innings in relief of hard-luck starter Nick Blackburn.

So Breslow it was.

Not that it would not have made much difference, maybe. A-Rod was unquestionably due. "He may have a couple of bad at-bats, but (he's) a great hitter who can do that any time you make a mistake. He's not going to miss too many," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the Yankees star, who lifted his arms in the air in triumph as he watched home run No. 555 disappear. "Get a ball up, he puts it in the seats. That's what he does."

That's what Justin Morneau does, too, especially lately, especially in this South Bronx launching pad. Morneau connected on his sixth home run in eight games and third in two nights at Yankee Stadium, giving him a dozen already this season. Joe Mauer, in just 14 games, has half as many, having blasted his sixth in the fourth inning, one of two runs the Twins managed off Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain.

The Twins squandered a couple of scoring chances, especially in the seventh inning, when they put two runners on to open the frame. Denard Span popped up in a critical spot for the second out -- "A ground ball would have scored a run there," Gardenhire said. "Those little things will kill you." -- and Brendan Harris flew out to end the threat.

Still, the home runs and Brian Buscher's eighth-inning run-scoring double would have been enough offense for the Twins , if not for Teixeira. The switch-hitting first baseman collected four of the six hits, and all four of the runs batted in, that Blackburn surrendered. He doubled in the first inning, homered (after consecutive walks to Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon) in the third, then singled twice, improving to 6 for 6 lifetime against Blackburn.

That last hit, a looping line drive into right field, was the killer. After a leadoff double by Hideki Matsui, Blackburn retired Jeter on a sacrifice bunt and induced a one-hopper from Damon for the second out.

"I wanted to be more careful than that," Blackburn said. "But I did the same thing I had been doing all night; I threw something right over the plate. Every at-bat, I gave him something good to hit."