Yankees continue push for postseason

NEW YORK - A victory over Baltimore, a loss by the Red Sox, and a defeat for Detroit. It's almost as though the New York Yankees won three times last night.

Hideki Matsui broke out of a long slump with a go-ahead homer, Phil Hughes earned his first win at Yankee Stadium, and New York beat the Orioles, 8-5, to move closer to a playoff spot.

Hughes got help from a bullpen that escaped two bases-loaded jams. Alex Rodriguez matched his high for RBIs in a season (142) and the Yankees got within 3 1/2 games of AL East-leading Boston with 12 remaining. That's their smallest deficit since before play on April 22.

New York also increased its wild-card lead to 3 1/2 games over the Tigers.

"We've come too far and worked too hard to start counting your chips," manager Joe Torre said.

The Yankees took two of three at Fenway Park last weekend to cap a 7-2 trip, then quickly got focused on Baltimore. No. 9 batter Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-run single, Jorge Posada had three hits, and Bobby Abreu drove in two runs as New York waited out an inconsistent Daniel Cabrera (9-17).

The Yankees (86-64) have won 10 of 12, improving to a season-best 22 games over .500.

Baltimore, which surprisingly leads the season series, 8-5, has dropped 20 of 26 overall. The 6-foot-9-inch Cabrera fell to 0-5 in his past six starts and tied St. Louis' Kip Wells for the most losses in the majors.

"There's a lot of losing on my record right now and it's not a good feeling. Seventeen losses is tough for anybody," Cabrera said.

Settling down after a shaky start, Hughes (4-3) was the one in control. He gave up two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking two.

"You see the confidence growing," Mientkiewicz said.

Matsui, back in the lineup after a night off Sunday at Boston, hit a solo shot in the third - his first homer in 123 at-bats since Aug. 8 at Toronto off Roy Halladay. Matsui began the day in a 5-for-43 (.116) skid. "The result was a home run, but the swing itself really felt good. I put a good swing on it, hit the ball hard. I hadn't done that in a while," Matsui said through a translator.