Aaron Boone’s team wasted an opportunity to gain ground on several contenders in the American League playoff chase, getting shut down by All-Star righty Joe Ryan and two relievers in a 4-1 loss Wednesday to deadline-gutted Minnesota at the Stadium after taking the first two games of the series.

The Yankees lost a game to the Minnesota Twins. Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat marked a rare blip in the Yankees’ two-plus decades of head-to-head dominance. It snapped the Yankees’ nine-game winning streak over Minnesota and dropped their head-to-head record against the Twins to 125-45 since 2002.

The start of their series finale against Minnesota was delayed for 1:52 by rain and by the fifth inning the out-of-town scoreboard showed that AL East leader Toronto and second-place Boston had lost as had the team chasing them for the final AL wild card, Cleveland.