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Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez congratulate Nick Swisher (r.) on his home run in the fifth inning against Oakland.
YANKEES 6, OAKLAND ATHLETICS 3
OAKLAND The pieces may finally be coming together for the Yankees.
After watching Alex Rodriguez break out of his power slump Wednesday, Joe Girardi saw Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher go deep Friday, part of a 6-3 win over the As to begin a nine-game road trip.
Teixeira and Swisher each hit two-run home runs, pacing an offense that appears to be finding itself after a rough stretch the past two weeks.
Were capable of scoring some runs in bunches and putting up some big numbers, Girardi said. Its always nice for a starting pitcher to get a big lead so he can get to work.
Ivan Nova (5-2) shook off a minor hamstring issue and delivered seven solid innings of three-run ball, holding the As to six hits and one walk while striking out four.
The win was only the second in the last six starts for Nova, who had given up five earned runs or more in four of his previous five outings.
Hes won a lot of games for us the last couple of years, Girardi said. We want to get him on a roll. It was a good start for him tonight.
The Yankees were up to their old tricks in the early innings, wasting opportunities in each of the first two frames as they went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position against starter Tyson Ross (2-5).
They broke through in the third, getting some help along the way. Curtis Granderson singled with one out, but Cano launched a hard line drive to center that looked like it would end the inning.
Coco Crisp overran the ball, which glanced off his glove. Cano cruised into second base on the error while Granderson scored all the way from first, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Four pitches later, Teixeira pushed the lead to three, drilling a two-run homer to right field, his sixth of the season.
When you get an extra opportunity, you want to cash in on it, Girardi said. We did.
The Yankees had a chance to blow the game open in the fourth, loading the bases with one out. The rally didnt last long, however, as Alex Rodriguez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Nova was cruising through the As lineup, getting nine straight outs after allowing a leadoff single in the first. Josh Reddick put Oakland on the board with a solo shot to right in the fourth, but Nova went back to work, retiring the next two batters to hold the 3-1 lead.
Cano belted a homer to center field to open the fifth, then Swisher added an opposite-field, two-run shot to left later in the inning to give Nova some breathing room at 6-1. For Swisher, it snapped a 63 at-bat homerless skid.
Nova needed some of the cushion, as Josh Donaldson singled and Daric Barton doubled to open the home half of the fifth, setting the As up for a big inning. Kurt Suzuki hit a sac fly to deep left-center, where Granderson tracked it down to limit the damage to one run.
Nova did the rest, getting Cliff Pennington to hit a harmless grounder to first before striking out Jemile Weeks to hold the lead at four runs.
Kila Kaaihue pulled the As within three with a homer to lead off the seventh, but Nova got through the rest of the inning before turning the game over to the bullpen.
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