TORONTO -- Yankees veteran CC Sabathia extended his mastery over Toronto on a day that saw young Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison pay for his lack of control.
[b]Tyron Smith Jersey[/b] . Sabathia, in his 400th American League start, wobbled in the first and sixth innings but retired 16 of 17 between the flashpoints to help New York to a 6-4 victory Sunday afternoon. The six-foot-seven left-hander, who looks like he sleeps in his baggy uniform, improved his record at the Rogers Centre to 7-1 and his career mark against the Jays to 15-4. He gave up four runs on seven hits and struck out six in a six-inning, 93-pitch performance that featured 65 strikes. "He threw great," said Yankees first baseman Kelly Johnson. "He mixed his pitches, he was in the zone, guys were off balance. Thats a good sign. "He got more and more confident and his stuff got even better as the game went on. The Yankee win came in the rubber match of a three-game series. New York (3-3) returns to the Bronx for a nine-game homestand while Toronto (3-4) has a day off before hosting Houston. "Today was just on me," said the 23-year-old Hutchison, who suffered his first Rogers Centre loss in six starts. "It was my loss." Hutchison (1-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings. He struck out six but walked three and hit a batsman with all four scoring. In only his second big league start since returning from Tommy John surgery, he gave up six earned runs on six hits while throwing 78 pitches including 49 for strikes. After striking out 19 and walking just four in spring training, he has struck out 10 and walked six in his last two starts. Toronto manager John Gibbons says Hutchison has been struggling of late, although he got away with it previously. "He was high in the (strike) zone a lot. Thats not who he is," said Gibbons. "Hell get back down there. "He looked a little excited today. He looked like he was overthrowing. Its not uncommon for young guys to do that. But hes going to be fine. Hes the least of our worries, if you want to know the truth." Asked what his worries were, Gibbons laughed and said: "Where Im going to eat this evening." But then he got serious. "To have a big year, youve got to start winning some games like this," he said. "Its not easy, you cant fall behind and spot them five runs, fall behind 6-1. But there comes a time youve got to start winning win some of these games, especially at home. Youve got to find that magic, have that magic or something. And hopefully we can find that soon." Toronto came close with two outs in the eighth with a Jose Bautista drive caught at the warning track and an Edwin Encarnacion triple that almost went out. But Dioner Navarro grounded out to end the rally. With one out in the ninth and closer David Robertson (who got his second save) on the mound, Brett Lawrie singled and pinch-hitter Adam Lind walked. But pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus popped out and Melky Cabrera, who earlier had homered for the third day in a row, flied out to right. While Cabrera is hitting .323 and has tied his home-run total of three from an injury-ravaged 2013 season, other Jays bats have been cold to open this season. Twelve of Torontos 22 runs have come via home run, with Cabrera and Bautista accounting for six of the Jays eight homers. But getting the scoreboard to tick over other ways has proved difficult. Its early days yet but Encarnacion is hitting .179 and has yet to register an RBI. Bautista has found the fences and has reached base safely in all seven games but has a .227 batting average. Lawrie is hitting .120, Rasmus .087. Outside of Cabrera and Lind (.308), Maicer Izturis (.500) is at the top of the class with multi-hit games in all four of his starts. Toronto came into the game hitting just .209 as a team. Only Houston, at .195, was worse in the AL. That means trouble unless your pitching can hold the opposition close. The Jays did get that in 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Todd Redmond, Steve Delabar and Esmil Rogers. But the damage had already been done. The Yankees came into the game without a home run, marking only the fifth time since 1923 that New York had gone without a homer for the first five games of the campaign. Brett Gardner changed all of that with a two-run shot in the fourth. Yankees veteran Derek Jeter singled to right field to lead off the third inning for his 3,319th career hit, which tied him with Paul Molitor for eighth on MLBs all-time hits list and fourth on the AL hits list. "Its special. I grew up watching Paul, I played against him briefly and I have a lot of respect for him and his career. Any time you talk about eighth in anything, its special, so it definitely means a lot," said Jeter, who has reached base safely in 19 straight games against the Jays The 33-year-old Sabathia gave up a leadoff homer to Cabrera -- his second leadoff home run in three days -- before settling down to dispatch one Blue Jay after another. Sabathia, a six-time all-star who is making US$23 million this season, improved his major-league record to 206-116 in bouncing back from a rocky Opening Day start in Houston that saw him give up six runs in the first two innings. "I threw the fastball more, just worked it in and out," he said. "That made the other pitches more effective." But Toronto finally got to the big man with two outs in the sixth thanks to three singles and a double. Dioner Navarros double scored one run before Erik Kratz singled two more home to reduce the lead to 6-4. Hutchison, who denied he was over-excited on the day, walked two and hit a batsman in a wobbly 25-pitch first inning that saw all three mistakes come home. A leadoff walk scored when Gardner stole second, was moved to third by Jeter and came home on Jacoby Ellsburys groundout. After Brian McCann walked and Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch, Johnson doubled both home for a 3-0 lead. Cabreras homer, on Sabathias second delivery of the day, made it 3-1. A leadoff walk to Brian Roberts turned into another run in the fourth. Roberts stole second and was driven home by Yangervis Solarte, an eight-year minor-leaguer from Venezuela who is turning heads early in the season. Gardner then slammed a 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence for a 6-1 lead.
[b]Mike Ditka Jersey[/b] . Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season.
[b]Dan Bailey Jersey[/b] . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics.BALTIMORE -- The Washington Nationals made themselves right at home at Camden Yards in an interleague duel between crosstown rivals and division leaders. Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings and Washington hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. The Nationals usually win with pitching, and Fister was more than efficient. But on this night Washington beat the hard-hitting Orioles at their own game, using home runs by Wilson Ramos, Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth to win this matchup between teams located 40 miles apart on I-295. "This is a good ballpark to hit home runs in," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "All you need to do is look at the other dugout to see that." Fister (8-2) scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out three. He is 8-1 in his last 11 starts and 52-52 for his career, the first time the right-hander has been at .500 since 6-6 in 2010. "He was pretty good," said Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph, who hit into two double plays. "He sinks the ball so well and hes got that curveball, he didnt bust it out until the second or third time around. And hes got a good enough slider to hit one off the barrel." Fister has earned the right to be considered the ace of a staff that includes Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann. But, Williams said, "Everybody has pitched very well. To throw labels on guys isnt fair. They have all pitched very well; sometimes it just doesnt come out as a win." Each team has one win in the rain-shortened, home-and-home showdown that concludes Thursday night. Baltimore is 7-2 in its last nine games and Washington has won eight of 10 overall. "Were getting some momentum together and thats kind of where were at right now," Fister said. "Thats good going into the break." Manny Machado went 3 for 4 with a homer for the Orioles and Chris Davis had two hits and an RBI. Machado is 12 for 21 in four games since returning from a five-game suspension. "I feel fine at the plate, seeing the ball well," Machado said. "Im just trying to keep this going." Orioles starter Bud Norris (7-6) gave up five runs and six hits in four-plus innings in his first appearance since June 21.
[b]Jeff Heath Jersey[/b]. . He won four straight starts before going on the disabled list with a right groin strain. "As much as you do side work and (simulated) games and stuff like that, theres no substitute for the adrenaline and the challenge of facing major league hitters," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "Especially ones as good as Washington has. So it will get better. Weve seen what hes capable of." It was Norris shortest outing of the year, and the five runs and two home runs he allowed matched season highs. "I felt pretty good," he insisted. "Got a little achy there at the end, but Im happy with the results and its kind of out of my head now. Ill get a couple more bullpens in and just go from there and into the break and feel good going into the second half." Washington jumped on Norris for two first-inning runs. After Anthony Rendon and Werth hit successive doubles, Adam LaRoche delivered an RBI single. Davis singled in a run in the bottom half, and Ramos made it 3-1 in the second with a shot to left. Desmond hit his 16th home run in the fourth, a drive that landed in the front row of the bleachers in centre field. Machado got the run back in the home half with his ninth home run, the fifth in eight games. LaRoche added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Werth homered off Brad Brach in the seventh. The Nationals played their 13th consecutive errorless game, matching their longest streak since coming to Washington from Montreal in 2005. Rendon made several sparkling plays at third base and started a 5-4-3 double play in the sixth after Baltimore put runners at the corners with one out and the score 5-2. "Their third baseman had a great night," Showalter said. "We could have got back in it a little bit but they didnt let us defensively." NOTES: Wei-Yin Chen (0-2, 7.71 ERA vs the Nationals) faces Gonzalez in the series finale Thursday night. ... Ramos extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games. ... Washingtons Danny Espinosa went 0 for 3 and is mired in an 0-for-22 skid. His teammate, Bryce Harper, went 0 for 4 and is 4 for 28 since coming off the DL following left thumb surgery. ' ' '
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