MINNEAPOLIS — Clarke Schmidt cruised to a career-long eight shutout innings after Anthony Volpe led off the game with a home run that sparked a three-run first inning, and the New York Yankees finished a three-game sweep with a 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
Schmidt (5-1) scattered a double and two singles without a walk while striking out eight batters and winning his third consecutive start. He lobbied manager Aaron Boone for the ninth, but with a career-high 103 pitches he figured he didn't have much of a case.
''I was happy he left me out there for as long as he did,'' said Schmidt, who has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his nine starts this season.
The 2017 first-round draft pick lowered his ERA from 2.95 to 2.49 while throwing a career-high 103 pitches. His previous long was 6 2/3 innings, matched in his most recent outing at Tampa Bay on Friday.
''He's got the repertoire to do it, and now he's becoming really good at executing and having a real feel and command of his entire arsenal,'' Boone said.
Gleyber Torres hit two doubles and drove in a run, and Anthony Rizzo, Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo also had RBIs for the Yankees (30-15), who have won 11 of their last 14 games and have the second-best record in the major leagues behind Philadelphia.
Aaron Judge hit two more rockets for doubles and went 2 for 3 with a walk after going 4 for 4 with a walk on Wednesday night. He had half as many hits in the series as the Twins, whose streak of six straight series won came to a crashing end while being outscored 14-1 and outhit 35-14 by the Yankees.
''I didn't kind of recognize much of what I was watching over the last three days,'' manager Rocco Baldelli said.
