NEW YORK -- When closer Aroldis Chapman recorded the final out in a 5-2 win over the Twins at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the Yankees had reason to feel a little conflicted.

Obviously, winning is what's important, and the victory brought them that much closer to securing a playoff spot after missing the postseason last year.

At the same time, the story in the American League East stayed the same: The Yankees were unable to make up ground on the first-place Red Sox, this time because Boston beat the Orioles, 1-0, in 11 innings.

The Yankees have been hot. They've won 13 of their last 17 games since Sept. 2.

The problem? They have only picked up a game and a half on the Red Sox, climbing from 4 1/2 games to three back of their foe.

The Yankees have just 12 games to play.

Girardi was asked if it's been frustrating that the Yankees have mostly only been able to build on their Wild Card lead, which swelled to six games over Minnesota for the top position.

"Yes and no," Girardi said. "I'm happy about the way we're playing. That's been my focus the whole time here. Let's pay attention to what we do. And I like the way we're playing and I think that's important and we need to continue to play that way and let's see what happens."

Left fielder Brett Gardner said their lack of ground gained on Boston hasn't bothered him that much.

"Not really," he said. "I'm just more focused on how we've been playing. I think we've been playing really well. We've been scoring some runs. We've been throwing the ball really well. ... That's all we can control. That's all we can focus on is how we're playing and I think we've been playing really good baseball recently and it needs to continue."

He did say, however, that this time of year makes him think of the close losses that could have been wins.

"We've been playing really good baseball and when it gets to the end of the season, unfortunately when you're a game or two games or three games back, you start thinking about games earlier in the season that maybe could have gone your way but didn't," Gardner said.

"But, all that's said and done and we've got 12 games left and we're three games back. So we kind of have our backs against the wall a little bit but we've been playing really good baseball and we just need to continue to do that and keep the pressure on them and keep winning."

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.