Yankees Send Mazzaro Back to Jersey

New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro had plenty of family and friends in attendance for tonight's Yankees-A's contest, but the Bergen County native wouldn't make it out of the 4th inning. The Yankees belted three home runs to help Phil Hughes earn his 16th win in a 9-3 victory. The win also put the Yankees in sole possession of first place for the first time in over a week. The Yankes got help from the Toronto Blue Jays, who belted the Tampa Bay Rays 13-5.

Hughes struggled with his control and neared 100 pitches when he completed his 5th and final inning. But the right-hander got plenty of run support early. Already up 1-0 in the 1st, the Yankees added a second run when Mark Ellis booted Nick Swisher's potential inning ending ground out. The error allowed Derek Jeter to come home for a 2-0 lead. The A's continued their Bad News Bears impersonation when left fielder Jeff Larish got to close to the wall on Jorge Posada's RBI drive. Posada should have been a dead duck at third as he tried to stretch his double into a triple, but Kevin Kouzmanoff couldn't handle throw that clearly had the Yankees' catcher beat. It was Posada's first triple of the season.

Up 3-1 in the 3rd, Nick Swisher got the green light on a 3-0 fastball and drilled it into the seats for a 5-1 Yankees advantage. An inning later Curtis Granderson went yard to give the Bombers a 6-2 edge before Mark Teixeira busted the game open with a 3-run blast. It was the 30th home run of the year for the first baseman, the seventh straight year he's accomplished the feat.

Chad Gaudin (3 IP) and David Robertson finished up for Hughes, who told the YES Network's Kim Jones that he was embarrassed by his performance. Knowing he was done after five innings, he thanked each of his teammates as they came off the field at the end of the inning.

Notes

Lance Berkman played another rehab game at Trenton and said he's ready to rejoin the big ball club. Alex Rodriguez is expected back on Sunday.

Andy Pettitte felt sore, but good one day after another throwing session. He's expected to give it another go on Wednesday.

A.J. Burnett fights for his spot in the rotation Wednesday night against left-hander Brett Anderson.