NEW YORK -- Domingo Germán stood in foul territory, his palms presented skyward, and the umpires huddled. The Yankees right-hander had been halted after the top of the third inning, and now again before the top of the fourth, with apparent concern raised over foreign substances.

Germ¨¢n was spinning a gem, and umpiring crew chief James Hoye noticed that the hurler¡¯s right hand felt tacky. The conversation grew more animated as Germ¨¢n pleaded his case, explaining the source was nothing more than rosin, the time-tested grip-enhancing agent that is legal for all pitchers to use.

Ultimately, the umps found no reason to interrupt Germ¨¢n¡¯s splendid Saturday afternoon any further. Germ¨¢n struck out a career-high 11 batters over 6 1/3 frames, raising his glove above his head to acknowledge a standing ovation as he exited the Yanks¡¯?6-1 victory over the Twins at Yankee Stadium.

¡°The discussion was intense,¡± Germ¨¢n said through an interpreter. ¡°There was a moment there where maybe I felt that things were going to get out of hand. But I was able to explain and tell them, I have a rosin bag that¡¯s in the area of the dugout where I sit all the time.

¡°He was able to talk that over, understand and reason. He listened to what I was saying, and they said, ¡®OK, fine.¡¯¡±

By the time Germ¨¢n made his triumphant (and unimpeded) walk toward the dugout, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was in the visiting clubhouse, having been ejected after Germ¨¢n was permitted to continue pitching in the fourth inning.

Baldelli¡¯s main gripe was that Germ¨¢n had been instructed to lay off the rosin after the third inning, then re-appeared with tackiness still on his right pinky finger for the fourth. Baldelli said that he felt Germ¨¢n ¡°didn¡¯t fully comply with the warning, from what I was told, and was still allowed to keep pitching. That's it. I don't agree with that in principle.¡±

Hoye explained that he, as well as umpire D.J. Reyburn, inspected Germ¨¢n¡¯s hand. They concluded, ¡°This is not an ejectable offense because we didn¡¯t feel it rose to foreign substance standard of affecting the flight, affecting his pitching.¡±

Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: ¡°It did not reach the level [of enforcement]. Any time a pitcher is out there, there¡¯s always something you get a little bit from the rosin. Basically, it was, ¡®Wash your hands.¡¯ That¡¯s all it is.¡±

The curious back-and-forth detracted somewhat from one of Germ¨¢n¡¯s finer efforts, representing a bounce-back performance after he issued five walks in a three-inning no-decision against the Guardians his previous time out.

¡°We wanted to adjust mechanically and use my lanes better,¡± Germ¨¢n said. ¡°We wanted to make sure if I¡¯m landing and going inside, that I keep that direction so the pitches can be sharper. I think we did that today.¡±

Germ¨¢n retired the first 16 Twins he faced before Christian V¨¢zquez slapped a clean single to center field. Michael A. Taylor followed with a hit through the left side of the infield, but Germ¨¢n settled after a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake -- retiring the next two batters.

¡°He looked really good, using all his pitches in good areas,¡± catcher Kyle Higashioka said. ¡°His misses were good. I think he was just mixing his pitches, attacking the hitters, attacking the zone early. It was good.¡±

Trevor Larnach doubled on Germ¨¢n¡¯s 78th and final pitch in the seventh, scoring as Jos¨¦ Miranda greeted reliever Michael King with a double. Despite Germ¨¢n¡¯s odd incident, the victory represented a return to normalcy for the Yankees, who have spent most of the past two decades notching victories over Minnesota (now 115-42 since 2002, including the postseason).

After losing the first two in this four-game series, one by blowout and one by blown lead, Higashioka and Anthony Rizzo homered to highlight a four-run peppering of Tyler Mahle. Giancarlo Stanton added a booming two-run double in the seventh, a drive that most in the ballpark thought was a home run -- including the sound engineer, who had to pump the brakes on a celebratory siren.

¡°I was very surprised,¡± said rookie Anthony Volpe, who went 1-for-2 with two walks, three steals and a run scored. ¡°I¡¯ve only played with [Stanton] for a couple of weeks, but Rizz said he¡¯s never seen a ball that he¡¯s hit like that not go out.¡±