Yanks look to break the skid in Minnesota.

Unable to leave Baltimore with as little as one win, the Yankees will take their cold bats to The Twin Cities in Minnesota for a four game set against the Twins. The Yankees are coming in on a five-game losing streak, entering play at 6 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

"We're definitely in striking distance," said manager Joe Girardi. "We're in the middle of our division right now. You'd like to be better, but it's not the case. It should be a very interesting second half."

Tonight's lineup, 8:05 ET @ Target Field:

Gardner CF
Nix SS
Cano 2B
Wells RF
Hafner DH
Almonte LF
Overbay 1B
Stewart C
Adams 3B

Pettitte P

Pitching Preview:

Andy Pettitte will look to be the man that solves as the Yankees problems while trying to fix some things of his own. Pettitte has been very great since returning from a strained trapezius in early June, going 2-3 with a 4.83 ERA over his last five starts.

Pettitte began the season 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his first three starts, but has since struggled to go 2-6 with a 5.06 ERA.

"He had the real good first month," manager Joe Girardi said. "Then he kind of went through some starts where he didn't feel like he had all his weapons. I think he has had them all now. One inning, here or there, has cost him."

Minnesota will counter with a lefty of their own when they send out Scott Diamond, who's 1-3 over his last fours starts. He last started against the Marlins on Wednesday, working efficiently through four innings, giving up only two hits, before falling apart in the fifth, when he gave up three runs on five hits, including a home run.

Yankee notes:

*The Yankees annnounced today that Alex Rodriguez has finally been cleared to play in Minor League rehab games and will join the Single-A Charleston Riverdogs on Tuesday.

Rodriguez will play a minimum of three innings at third base for the Riverdogs, starting his 2-day rehab clock. If he plays out the full 20 days, he could return on July 22nd when the Yankees are in Texas. If A-Rod comes joins the Yankees a few days early, he could meet the in Boston.

A-Rod released this statement earlier today: "Had another good workout today and feel great and I'm excited to get back on the field tomorrow."

*Andy Pettitte is looking to change the record books tonight, needing only one strikeout to pass Whitey Ford to becomes the teams all-time leader in strikeouts, passing the current record of 1,975.

If you're looking for something to read before the game, you can check out this piece from ESPN New York about the history of Pettitte's punch-outs.

Enjoy the game, and don't forget to follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.