NEW YORK (Interstat) — Gerrit Cole pitched five strong innings and David Bednar earned his 17th save as the New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium II before 45,104 fans.

The Yankees improved to 49-38 while the Twins fell to 42-47. The game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Cole (2-3) allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. Bednar struck out three in a perfect ninth. Mike Paredes (0-2) took the loss, giving up three runs in four innings.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo home run by Kody Clemens. The Twins added another run in the fourth on Victor Caratini’s RBI single. But New York answered with Ben Rice’s two-run homer in the third, scoring Trent Grisham. Grisham later added a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Jose Caballero had an RBI single.

Both teams had six hits. For the Yankees, Grisham went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Rice drove in two. For the Twins, Clemens had two hits.

Relievers Kody Funderburk pitched two scoreless innings for Minnesota, while Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn and Fernando Cruz each threw a scoreless frame for New York.