Minneapolis ? After being outplayed thoroughly by the undermanned Minnesota Twins in their sixth straight defeat, it’s clear that everything is going wrong for the New York Yankees.

If George Steinbrenner was upset before, he’s REALLY going to be angry now.

Lew Ford homered, tripled and drove in three runs, leading Minnesota to a 6-3 victory Friday over the slumping Yankees.

“We’re frustrated, disappointed,” Yankees starter Mike Mussina said. “We certainly aren’t proud of the way we’re playing.”

Neither is Steinbrenner, who held a conference call Friday afternoon with manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman to get answers after watching his team get swept by the Kansas City Royals, the worst team in the major leagues.

An upset Steinbrenner made it clear the team’s struggles were unacceptable.

“He wants to see improvement yesterday,” Torre said. “And so do we all.”

That will have to wait at least another day because the Yankees (27-27) squandered a 3-0 lead for their first six-game skid since dropping seven straight in September and October 2000. They have scored three runs or fewer in every game of the losing streak and are 0-19 this year when doing so.

The Twins lost three starters to injury in their 13-inning victory Thursday over Cleveland on Thursday. Nick Punto blew out his hamstring and is on the disabled list, Justin Morneau strained his left elbow, and Joe Mauer pulled a groin muscle.

Minnesota second baseman Brent Abernathy tries to throw out New York Yankees batter Tony Womack. Abernathy made a diving stop on the ground ball, but Womack was safe at first in the Twins' 6-3 victory Friday in Minneapolis.

Even without heavy hitters Mauer and Morneau in the starting lineup, the Twins roughed up Mussina (5-4) with two home runs and eight hits to win their third in a row and sixth in their last eight.

“You can’t cry about it,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It’s just a matter of picking each other up. That’s what baseball’s all about.”

Brent Abernathy hit his first homer of the season to start the Twins’ comeback in the fourth, and Kyle Lohse (5-3) settled down after a rocky start to get the victory.

Lohse gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings with two strikeouts for his first career victory against the Yankees. Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon each pitched an inning of perfect relief before Joe Nathan earned his 16th save in 18 chances.

“It just shows our scrappiness or heart, or whatever you want to call it,” Lohse said.

New York got on the board when Gary Sheffield hit a two-run homer in the first. It was Sheffield’s 425th home run, tying him with Jim Thome for 35th on the career list.

Bernie Williams’ RBI single in the third made it 3-0.

“We got a lead, and he pitched very effectively early,” Torre said of Mussina. “And then it just fell apart for us, basically. There’s not much more you can say, other than he didn’t make his pitches.”

Hideki Matsui went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run for the Yankees, who had just two hits after the third inning.

“That’s the problem we’ve been having,” Torre said. “When we get behind, we try to play catch-up. We’re not very patient.”

Red Sox 7, Angels 4

Boston – Johnny Damon lined a three-run double over the head of center fielder Steve Finley to break an eighth-inning tie, lifting Boston.

The Angels led 4-1, and Kelvim Escobar was coasting, allowing just three hits and one unearned run over six innings. But Escobar, in just his second start since bone spurs landed him on the disabled list, was lifted after 95 pitches, and Boston scored three times off Brendan Donnelly in the seventh and three more off Scot Shields (4-3) in the eighth.

Tigers 5, Orioles 3

Detroit – Ivan Rodriguez homered and hit a tiebreaking double, and Jason Johnson pitched into the ninth inning for Detroit. Johnson (4-4) gave up three runs – one earned – and six hits in eight-plus innings, striking out six and walking one. He improved to 3-1 in six career starts against Baltimore, where he played 1999-03.

Baltimore’s Bruce Chen (5-3) allowed three runs and five hits while striking out four in 61â3 innings.

White Sox 6, Indians 4

Chicago – Jermaine Dye had three hits, and Orlando Hernandez came off the disabled list to earn his first victory since May 11.

Activated before the game after being put on the DL because of a sore shoulder, Hernandez (6-1) had control problems, hitting four batters and squandering a 4-0 first-inning lead. He gave up four runs and six hits in six innings, including a game-tying three-run homer to Coco Crisp in the third.

Neal Cotts pitched two shutout innings of relief, and Dustin Hermanson pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 12 chances.

Carl Everett hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth when the White Sox broke the tie against Jake Westbrook (2-8), who had settled down after giving up six first-inning singles and four runs.

Blue Jays 6, Athletics 2

Oakland, Calif. – Roy Halladay pitched seven sharp innings to earn his AL-leading ninth victory, and Toronto snapped Oakland’s season-high four-game winning streak.

Frank Catalanotto went 4-for-4 with a solo homer, and Orlando Hudson added a two-run single in a three-run fourth inning for Toronto, which had lost five of seven. That was more than enough for Halladay (9-2), who allowed one run and six hits and put together his fifth straight sterling start.

Journeyman Ryan Glynn (0-1), making his A’s debut, retired nine of his first 10 batters.

Devil Rays 6, Mariners 1

Seattle – Aubrey Huff hit his second homer off Aaron Sele in less than a week, and the Devil Rays broke a five-game losing streak with a rare road victory.

Huff added an RBI single off reliever J.J. Putz in Tampa Bay’s two-run seventh. He homered Sunday against Sele (4-5), his first since April 18.

Doug Waechter (2-3) got the victory in relief. He took over in the fourth after Casey Fossum left because of tightness in his left groin and improved to 3-0 lifetime against Seattle.