Athletics  3    Yankees  6

Oakland Athletics (40-53) at New York Yankees (57-37), 7:05 p.m.

Sports Network | July 23, 2009

(Sports Network) - The rolling New York Yankees have an opportunity to extend their newfound lead atop the American League East when the Oakland Athletics enter Yankee Stadium tonight for the opener of a four-game series.

New York's six-game winning streak to begin the second half, coupled with a season-high five-game slide by rival Boston, has put the Yankees two games up on the Red Sox for first place in the division. The Red Sox are off on Thursday and will start up a three-game home set with Baltimore on Friday.

Each of New York's victories during its current tear have been by two runs or less, including Wednesday's 6-4 triumph over the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers scored four first-inning runs to hand starting pitcher A.J. Burnett an early cushion, and the offseason acquisition made the lead stand by delivering seven strong innings.

Nick Swisher capped the first-inning uprising with a two-run single, while Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano each had RBI base hits during the frame. Jorge Posada added a solo homer later in the game and drove in a pair of runs on the afternoon.

Burnett (9-4) improved to 4-0 in his last five starts after holding Baltimore to two runs on six hits and striking out six.

"I thought A.J. was excellent today," Girardi added. "He gave us seven great innings."

The Yankees, now 19-5 since June 24 and winners of 11 of their last 13 home games, hope to get a similar performance from another of their high-priced free-agent pickups when CC Sabathia takes the mound in tonight's opener.

Sabathia did turn in a gem in his most recent start, with the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner firing seven shutout innings in a 2-1 victory over Detroit Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The standout southpaw has alternated wins and losses over his past four starts, however, and hasn't won back-to-back assignments since a three-start winning streak from May 8-19.

The Bay Area native, who turned 29 on Tuesday, will also be seeking to improve upon a matchup against the A's at Yankee Stadium earlier this season. Sabathia was tagged for seven runs (6 earned) by Oakland in a 6 2/3-inning stint on April 22, although he did not receive a decision in New York's 9-7 win.

In 16 career starts versus Oakland, Sabathia is just 3-7 with a 6.26 ERA.

He'll also be facing an Athletics lineup that racked up a season high for runs in yesterday's 16-1 shellacking of Minnesota. The outburst came two days after Oakland pounded out 22 hits and rallied from a 10-run deficit in a controversial 14-13 victory over the Twins on Monday.

"The middle-of-the-lineup guys have been swinging better lately," manager Bob Geren told the A's official site after Wednesday's win. "We had a lot of guys [batting] under .200 for a while. Now they're creeping up. [Orlando] Cabrera and [Matt] Holliday have been picking it up."

Rajai Davis drove in a team-best four runs for Oakland on Wednesday, while Scott Hairston finished 3-for-5 with a three-run homer. Cabrera ended 2-for-3 and contributed a two-run single to the win.

Holliday, a candidate to be moved by the Athletics prior to next week's non- waiver trade deadline, went 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored and is batting .344 (22-for-64) with 14 RBI in 17 July games.

Trevor Cahill (6-8) benefited from Oakland's offensive barrage, although the rookie didn't need much support after limiting Minnesota to one run and six hits over the first seven innings.

The A's will turn to another first-year pitcher for tonight's tilt in Vin Mazzaro. The game will be a homecoming for the young right-hander, who grew up rooting for the Yankees in nearby Rutherford, New Jersey.

Mazzaro, a 3rd-round choice by Oakland in the 2005 draft, won his first two starts in the majors after being promoted in early June but has hit a rough patch since. The 22-year-old has gone 0-6 with a 5.59 ERA in seven subsequent appearances, and his team has lost all of those games.

He's coming off the worst showing of his brief big-league career, a three- inning stint against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Saturday in which Mazzaro was battered for eight runs (4 earned) and 10 hits.

The rookie will also be attempting to end a six-game losing streak for Oakland in this series, which includes a pair of defeats in a rain-shortened set at Yankee Stadium from April 21-22.

Today's contest is the makeup of the April 20th game that was postponed.