MINNEAPOLIS — Like the message on the side of a pack of smokes, the Yankees' four-game sweep in Minnesota comes with a warning: The Twins reek.
Sure, the lineup the Yankees put on the field for yesterday's 9-5 victory in front of a Fourth of July gathering of 38,260 at Target Field was, in scout's talk, short. After all, Luis Cruz, Alberto Gonzalez and Austin Romine were housed in the lower third of the card.
Still, the Twins are in a free-fall, having dropped eight of 11, are hurtling toward the AL Central cellar and are formulating plans to see what slugging first baseman Justin Morneau, who homered twice yesterday, can bring back in a trade.
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NINTH WONDER: Ichiro Suzuki, welcomed back to the dugout after scoring in the sixth inning, and Vernon Wells (right), who hit a two-run single in the first, helped lead the Yankees past the Twins, 9-5, at Target Field.
After scoring eight runs in the four games — all losses — before arriving in Minnesota, the Yankees punished Twins pitching for 29 runs in the four victories.
"Coming here the way we played was huge for us,'' Vernon Wells said of the Yankees' five-game losing streak before Monday night's victory. "We took advantage of mistakes. We got some pitches up in the zone and we are not missing them.''
The victory enabled the Yankees to stay six games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox.
Wells, who made a rare start against a right-hander, drove in two first-inning runs when the Yankees copped a 3-0 lead off Kyle Gibson, a highly touted prospect making his second big league start. Wells added an RBI single in the third and Ichiro Suzuki's two-run triple highlighted a four-run sixth.
"This was huge,'' winning pitcher David Phelps said of the sweep. "We are going home for a long stretch and taking it with us.''
Phelps (5-5), who was battered by the Orioles for nine runs and nine hits in 21/3 innings in his previous outing, allowed four runs and eight hits in 61/3 innings.
Though the schedule-maker dropped a Christmas gift on the Yankees in July by giving them four games against the Twins, who the Yankees have won 31 of the last 38 regular-season games against, the degree of difficulty significantly increases starting tonight when the Orioles visit The Bronx for three games.
After that the Royals and Twins come to Yankee Stadium before the All-Star break.
"If we do the things we did this series against Baltimore, we have a chance,'' Lyle Overbay said.
While it never got to the point where manager Joe Girardi had to make a decision about using Mariano Rivera for a third straight game — something he said he didn't want to do before the game — sloppy bullpen work by Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan in the seventh and eighth innings forced Girardi to bring David Robertson in for the ninth after Shawn Kelley cleaned up Logan's mess in the eighth.
The last drop of drama surfaced in the eighth when Ichiro needed a homer to hit for the cycle. Instead, he whiffed.
"Look at my arms,'' Ichiro said of his pipes that are as thick as a thermometer. "I don't think I had a chance. Maybe an inside-the-park homer.''
It was encouraging that on a day Robinson Cano's bat cooled (0-for-4 with an RBI) the club produced 13 hits. Nevertheless, the Twins against the Yankees is a mismatch. The same can't be said about the Orioles, who are 6-3 against the Yankees this season.
george.king@nypost.com
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