Minneapolis ? Kevin Brown shrugged off back pain and put his broken hand behind him. Now the New York Yankees have another pitcher they can count on this postseason, something they desperately needed.

Backed by Derek Jeter’s three RBIs and a relentless offense, Brown threw six strong innings to lead the Yankees past the frustrated Minnesota Twins, 8-4, Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five AL first-round series.

“As long as you can keep them from scoring, you know you’ve done your job for the team,” said Brown, who broke his non-throwing hand last month when he punched a clubhouse wall in frustration.

Hoping to save Minnesota’s season, ace Johan Santana will start on three days’ rest this afternoon against Javier Vazquez. The Yankees, who rallied in the 12th inning to win Game 2 after Torii Hunter’s homer put them on the ropes, could eliminate the Twins in four games for the second year in a row.

Jeter went 3-for-5, and Hideki Matsui also homered for New York — just one win away from a bitter rematch with the rival Boston Red Sox in the AL championship series.

“I don’t care about Boston right now,” Jeter said. “We’ve still got Minnesota to worry about.”

If the Twins win today, Game 5 would be Sunday back in the Bronx.

“We’re packing our suitcases,” said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, who came into the clubhouse and told his players to crank up the boom box.

Gardenhire’s confidence appeared to help the Twins stay positive.

New York's Kevin Brown delivers against Minnesota. Brown pitched six innings as the Yankees defeated the Twins, 8-4, Friday night in Minneapolis.

“We’ve been in worse situations,” Jacque Jones said. “Nobody’s down. We got the music on, guys are ready to go.”

Bernie Williams extended a major-league record by hitting his 20th postseason homer, a two-run shot off Carlos Silva that put the Yankees up 5-1 in the sixth.

That was plenty for Brown, whose first season in New York had been tainted by his ailing back and that embarrassing tantrum after a loss to Baltimore on Sept. 3.

The Yankees were angry about his outburst, but he cleared the air by apologizing a few days later. And because of his intensity and experience, Brown’s teammates were plenty confident when he took the mound for this ultra-important game.

“I think most of the guys understood where the frustration was coming from,” Brown said, “and that it was not something that I did because I didn’t care about the team. Quite the opposite.”

Against 23 batters, Brown threw 22 balls and didn’t walk anyone. A first-inning home run by Jones was the only one of eight hits allowed that did any damage.

“We’ll need him down the road, and hopefully we can get what we got tonight,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “He was poised and calm. He did a lot of things early in at-bats to those guys, and I thought he stepped up big-time.”

It remains to be seen if Brown’s back can hold up should New York advance, but he’s not worried about that — vowing to take the ball anytime he is asked.

“It’s not even worth talking about,” he said. “At this point and time in the year, nobody cares how you feel as long as you get somebody out.”

On offense, the Yankees showed they can do more than hit the long ball.

Posada, John Olerud, Miguel Cairo, Kenny Lofton and Jeter hit consecutive two-out singles in the second inning, putting the Yankees in front 3-1 and muting the crowd of 54,803.

“A huge sigh of relief, obviously, on my part,” Brown said.

Silva failed to get an out in the sixth, allowing 10 hits and six runs.

“Those are the type of hits you’ve got to get — two-out hits,” Jeter said. “Playing on the road, you want to take the crowd out of it.”

Jeter bounced a single to center off rookie Jesse Crain with two outs in the sixth to drive in Posada and Olerud, making it 7-1.

Minnesota scored three times in the ninth, but Mariano Rivera recorded three straight outs after entering with the bases loaded.

It was not a save situation for Rivera, who had a rare blown save in New York’s Game 2 victory.