WKBW Sports » National

Yankees win 8th Straight

By WKBW Sports

Yankees win 8th Straight

July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 3:44 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) - Nick Swisher hit the first of three consecutive
homers that sent Phil Hughes and the New York Yankees to their
eighth straight victory, 11-4 over the Baltimore Orioles on
Wednesday night.
Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera also hit solo shots to right
field in the second inning against starter Jeremy Guthrie - all
with two strikes.
Cano had three hits and three RBIs, and Mark Teixeira hit a
run-scoring double off the center-field fence for the Yankees, on
their longest winning streak since taking eight in a row last July.
New York broke it open with a six-run eighth that included Derek
Jeter's two-run double off the top of the right-field wall.
Hughes (2-2) struck out a career-high nine in five innings,
limiting a Baltimore lineup that tagged him for eight runs and
eight hits in 1 2-3 innings on May 9.
It was an important start for the 22-year-old right-hander,
whose big league future is uncertain because Chien-Ming Wang
appears close to coming off the disabled list and rejoining the
rotation.
Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Wang's
timetable would be determined solely by his health and sharpness,
not Hughes' performance. But this outing should only boost
confidence in Hughes, who had plenty of zip on a riding fastball
that was particularly effective up in the zone.
Alfredo Aceves followed Hughes with two scoreless innings, Phil
Coke recorded two outs and Mariano Rivera got four for his eighth
save in nine chances.
Rivera gave up a solo homer to Nolan Reimold in the ninth, his
first in the majors.
The Yankees broke loose against Baltimore's bullpen in the
eighth. Cano and Cabrera each had an RBI single during the burst.
Ty Wigginton hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Orioles,
their first in five games. Adam Jones added a solo shot in the
fifth.
There have been 71 homers hit at the new Yankee Stadium, one shy
of the major league record for the first 19 games at a major league
ballpark set at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico, according to
the Elias Sports Bureau.
This was the eighth game with at least five home runs here.
One player who did not go deep was Alex Rodriguez, who homered
in his previous four games for the Yankees.
Guthrie (3-4) settled down and lasted seven innings. He was
charged with five runs and five hits.

To submit a comment on this article, your email address is required. We respect your privacy and your email will not be visible to others nor will it be added to any email lists.