MINNEAPOLIS — Maybe it's the Yankees themselves. Maybe it's the Twins knowing it's the Yankees.

And maybe it's a lethal combination of both.

Whatever the reason, the postseason domination continued Thursday night with the Yankees producing their fifth straight American League Division Series victory over the Twins, this one 5-2 at Target Field.

Now one game from moving to the American League Championship Series, the Yankees have won four of those five games in the sixth inning or later, including this one when Lance Berkman's "second-chance" double in the seventh gave the Yankees a lead and led to an ejection for Twins manager Ron Gardenhire."We have to figure out a way to beat the Yankees," said Gardenhire, who didn't get into specifics about his ejection. "We haven't done that very well. That's well-documented."

But even the controversy over a second managerial ejection in one day couldn't overshadow the pitching of Andy Pettitte, who defied age and injury to his record 19th postseason win.

Pettitte, 38, pitched seven innings for the first time since July 8 and held the potent and pesky Twins offense to four hits and two runs before turning the game over to Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera.

And Pettitte got the usual run support, with Berkman hitting a fifth-inning homer to give the Yankees a brief 2-1 lead and then the double that incensed Gardenhire, who vehemently confronted home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt after the hit.

Gardenhire was convinced the previous pitch by Carl Pavano was a strike, and television replays showed it was close.

A similar situation occurred in the other ALDS game, when Rays manager Joe Maddon was ejected during a loss to the Rangers for arguing after a "second-chance" homer.

The Twins lost their 11th straight postseason game, matching the Phillies for the second-longest streak in history behind the Red Sox, who lost 13 in a row.

dvandyck@tribune.com