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Apr 22, 2010 - 6:33 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

New York (11-3) at Oakland (9-7), 3:35 p.m. EDT

CC Sabathia is known for struggling in April. That hasn't been the case in 2010.

The powerful left-hander looks to build on yet another dominant outing Thursday night while helping the New York Yankees extend their season-high winning streak to seven games with a sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

Sabathia (2-0, 2.84 ERA) entered this year with a 12-12 record and 4.51 ERA in 37 April starts over nine seasons. He endured a sluggish opening month last year - his first with the Yankees (11-3) - going 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA.

Sabathia, however, is currently coming off two superb victories.

Only the weather could stop Sabathia on Friday, when the reigning AL championship series MVP pitched all six innings of a 5-1 rain-shortened win over Texas. He was outstanding after allowing a run in the first inning, retiring 17 of the last 19 batters while striking out a season-high nine. That performance came after he came within four outs of a no-hitter in a 10-0 win at Tampa Bay.

"I mean that's about as good as we've seen him," manager Joe Girardi said.

Sabathia, a three-time All-Star, is aware of his reputation for slow starts.

"Usually I get off to a pretty slow start but my stuff is right where I want it to be right now," Sabathia said. "Just need to keep it going, keep working hard and just try to keep it going the rest of the year."

Sabathia is 3-0 with a 3.23 ERA in four games against the Athletics (9-7), and all three of his starts last season led to New York victories.

The Yankees got another strong effort on the mound in Wednesday's 3-1 win. Phil Hughes took a no-hit bid into the eighth only to lose it when Eric Chavez hit a hard comebacker off his forearm.

The victory extended the Yankees' winning streak to six games with a 2.12 ERA, and they also matched a 1926 franchise record by winning their first five series of the season.

New York might be in prime position for a sweep. The club has won 14 of 17 meetings with the A's, including six of eight at Oakland.

The A's are trying to end a three-game slide, and Dallas Braden (2-0, 2.70) may give them the best chance to do that.

Oakland is 3-0 in the left-hander's starts, and he was impressive again in Friday's 4-2 win over Baltimore. Braden yielded two runs and three hits in seven innings to win a second consecutive start.

"I always like to stress strike one and that was the prevalent thing for me (Friday), being able to force the issue with them," Braden said.

Braden is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in four games against the Yankees. He lost his only start against them July 26, getting tagged for seven runs and 10 hits while walking six in 5 2-3 innings of a 7-5 defeat.