Yankees roll to eighth straight win
NEW YORK - Joba Chamberlain pitched into the eighth inning and allowed two hits, Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon provided the offense, and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3, last night for their eighth straight win.
Chamberlain (6-2) was dominant for the second straight start, giving up a run in the first.
Damon drove in three runs, Jeter had two RBIs, and Jorge Posada hit a solo homer for the Yankees, who are 21-5 over the last month to seize control of the AL East.
Oakland has lost eight straight to New York and 17 of 26 overall.
The stumbling A’s wasted another decent start from young Brett Anderson (5-8), who came into the game riding a 21-inning scoreless streak. He lost for the first time in six starts, done in by an offense that couldn’t score even when it had Matt Holliday.
The three-time All-Star was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals earlier Friday for three minor league prospects, taking one of the A’s hottest bats out of the middle of the order.
Things began promising enough for the A’s, with Orlando Cabrera hitting a one-out double and scoring on Scott Hairston’s sacrifice fly. But they managed only one other hit against Chamberlain. The 23-year-old righthander allowed one run and struck out six in his longest outing since June 1.
Anderson went 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and striking out seven.
