New York ? Randy Johnson was every bit the dominant ace the New York Yankees thought they were getting last winter. And they really needed that.

Johnson pitched two-hit ball for eight innings and struck out 11 in his best start for New York’s broken-down rotation, leading the Yankees over the Minnesota Twins, 4-0, Tuesday night.

“I don’t know why they say he’s getting old,” said Torii Hunter, who struck out in all three of his at-bats against the Big Unit. “He was throwing gas and spotting his slider. I don’t think no team could hit him today – well, maybe the Yankees.”

The 41-year-old left-hander tantalized the crowd, not allowing a hit until Juan Castro bounced a single up the middle with two outs in the sixth. He threw 71 of 97 pitches for strikes, starting off 19 of 26 batters with a strike.

On Sunday, he bristled at the constant scrutiny of his health.

“Randy : tonight, I think he answered all the questions,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “He may not have felt 100 percent, but most pitchers when they pitch as long as he has find a way to deal with pain.”

New York, which remained one game behind first-place Boston in the AL East, learned before the game that Kevin Brown’s balky back will prevent him from starting Thursday. The Yankees will replace him with Aaron Small, who beat Texas last week for his first major-league win since 1998. They also pushed back Carl Pavano from his Saturday outing against the Angels, deciding not to rush his return from a sore shoulder and creating an opening that has yet to be filled.

Johnson and Mike Mussina, who allowed one run in beating the Angels on Sunday, are the only pitchers left from New York’s original five-man rotation.

Johnson (11-6) matched his season-strikeout-high and showed no signs of the minor back pain that caused the Yankees to cut short his start in Anaheim Thursday.

New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson throws in the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins. Johnson didn't allow a hit until the sixth Tuesday in New York, and the Yankees beat the Twins, 4-0.

Orioles 5, Rangers 4

Baltimore – Sammy Sosa hit his 586th home run to tie Frank Robinson for fifth place on the career list, and Baltimore ended a six-game losing streak with a victory over Texas.

Javy Lopez hit a tiebreaking homer off James Baldwin (0-1) in the eighth, and Luis Matos also connected for the Orioles, who avoided their longest losing streak of the season by winning for the first time since July 18.

Red Sox 10, Devil Rays 9

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Boston rallied twice after a frightening injury to pitcher Matt Clement to beat Tampa Bay.

Clement was carted from the field and taken to a hospital after Carl Crawford’s line drive caromed off the right side of his head and into left field for an RBI single in the third inning.

The game resumed after an 11-minute delay, with Chad Bradford replacing Clement and the Red Sox leading, 5-1. Three batters later, Aubrey Huff hit his second grand slam in five nights for Tampa Bay to tie it.

Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek and Johnny Damon homered for the Red Sox, who snapped an 8-all tie on Damon’s solo shot on the first pitch of the 10th from Danys Baez (5-3). Varitek added an RBI double to give Curt Schilling (3-4) a two-run lead.

Blue Jays 8, Angels 0

Toronto – Gustavo Chacin pitched eight scoreless innings, and Shea Hillenbrand homered and had four RBIs to lead the Blue Jays.

Hillenbrand had three hits for the Blue Jays, who moved one game over .500 (50-49). Toronto third baseman Corey Koskie went 1-for-4 with a walk in his first game since breaking a thumb on May 19.

Tigers 8, Mariners 5

Seattle – Dmitri Young hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning and tied his career high with five RBIs, leading Detroit over Seattle. Young’s one-out homer greeted reliever Ron Villone, who came on after Julio Mateo (2-4) hit Rondell White with a pitch and gave up a single to Ivan Rodriguez. Young’s 17th homer made it 7-5.