• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Chamberlain helps Yanks avoid sweep

Jul 30, 2008 - 10:22 PM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- In a game the New York Yankees needed to win, Joba Chamberlain played the role of stopper.

Chamberlain pitched six solid innings and Bobby Abreu homered twice as Yankees routed the Baltimore Orioles, 13-3, on Wednesday afternoon to snap a three-game losing streak.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 541st career home run and newcomer Xavier Nady contributed two RBI for New York, which avoided its first three-game sweep at home since April 29-May 1 against Detroit. The Yankees were outscored, 29-12, during their recent slide, which followed a season-high eight-game winning streak.

"We had two tough losses," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "We got hammered Monday and last night we came up a little short. Obviously, you want to keep those losing streaks short and those winning streaks long. We got back on track."

Leading 5-2, the Yankees broke open a close game with four runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

Chamberlain (4-3) allowed two runs and five hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his 11th start. The hard-throwing righthander improved to 3-1 since being moved to the rotation on June 3. He also won his second straight outing after outdueling Boston's Josh Beckett in Friday's 1-0 victory at Fenway Park.

On Wednesday, Chamberlain helped the Yankees avoid their first four-game losing streak in more than two months, throwing 60 of 98 pitches for strikes.

He allowed runs in the first and third, but the Yankees never trailed after scoring three times in their first at-bat. They took a 5-2 lead in the third on Abreu's two-run homer, then turned the contest into a rout against relievers Brian Burress and Fernando Cabrera.

"I needed to put a stop to it and try to put the team deep in the game and try to save the bullpen," Chamberlain said. "It's nice to go out and get run support and settle down early."

Dennis Sarfate (4-2), a New York native making his first career start, allowed five runs in four innings but gave up just two hits, and one of the runs he surrendered in the first inning was earned. He walked three and struck out five.

The Yankess scored their most runs since an 18-run output against Texas on July 2. They took their first lead in 27 innings in the bottom of the first.

Rodriguez had an RBI single that scored Derek Jeter and took third on right fielder Nick Markakis' throwing error that also allowed Abreu to score. Rodriguez made it 3-1 when he trotted home on catcher Guillermo Quiroz's passed ball.

The Yankees increased their lead in the third when Abreu's 12th home run bounced off the right field foul pole.

Two innings later, Giambi lined a soft single to left field scoring Abreu. Giambi scored when Nady hit a ground-rule double to left. The Yankees added two more when Johnny Damon drew a bases-loaded walk and Nady scored on Cabrera's wild pitch.

Abreu made it 10-2 with a home run that sailed over the rigth field wall. It was his 12th career multi-home run game and first as a Yankee.

Just four pitches later, Rodriguez connected on his 23rd homer, a drive to center field. Nady followed with a one-out double and scored on pinch hitter Justin Christian's RBI single.

A day after Baltimore's Daniel Cabrera was ejected for hitting Rodriguez in the seventh inning, New York's Edwar Ramirez was tossed when his first pitch of the seventh went over Kevin Millar's head.

"I really don't want to try and hit that guy," Ramirez said. "He didn't do nothing to me."

While Ramirez said there was no intent, manager Orioles Dave Tremblay thought otherwise.

"It was as obvious as the nose on my face that he was throwing at Millar," Tremblay said. "But he has to do what he has to do to defend his team and that's what he did.

Aubrey Huff and Markakis had RBI singles and Juan Castro hit a pinch-hit home run for Baltimore, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.