A-Rod goes deep twice as Yanks come back to rout Bucs

Jun 10, 2007, 21:05 GMT

Bronx, NY - Alex Rodriguez homered twice and Bobby Abreu finished 4-for-4 with four runs scored and three runs batted in, leading the New York Yankees to a 13-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a sweep of the three-game interleague series at Yankee Stadium.

Rodriguez, who finished with four runs scored, clubbed a three-run homer in the fourth to erase a one-run deficit and added a two-run shot in the sixth. He has four multi-homer games this season and 48 in his career.

Abreu stroked a double, a triple and two singles to go along with a walk. Hideki Matsui added two runs batted in and Derek Jeter scored twice for New York, which has won a season-high six in a row and nine of its last 11 to claw within one game of the .500 mark (30-31).

'That's the way you like to map it out, where the middle of your batting order really puts a lot of pressure on the opposition,' said Yankee manager Joe Torre. 'There's no easy pickins right now the way we're swinging the bat.'

Sean Henn (2-0) was credited with the win in two scoreless innings of relief. Yankee starter Tyler Clippard was roughed up for six runs on six hits and three walks in just 3 2/3 innings.

Former Yankee Shawn Chacon (2-1) took the loss in his return to the Bronx. The right-hander, who was an important acquisition for New York during the 2005 season, was shelled for seven runs on eight hits in just 3 1/3 innings.

'This is a team where you have to go out and get ahead of them and make pitches,' said Chacon. 'It's not a team that's going to get themselves out. They're not going to swing at bad pitches. Not being able to execute and them being so good, it's not a good combination to have success.'

Jose Bautista, Jose Castillo and Chris Duffy each drove in two runs for the Pirates, who have lost three straight and nine of their last 12.

The Yankees trailed 6-5 after Pittsburgh scored four in the top of the fourth, but New York regained the lead with one swing of the bat. After Jeter and Abreu each singled with one out to chase Chacon, Rodriguez greeted Josh Sharpless with a blast over the wall in left field for his 23rd home run of the season and an 8-6 advantage.

'When we lost the lead, we came right back, I think that was important,' added Torre.

Henn worked in and out of trouble in the fifth, loading the bases with one out before fanning Ryan Doumit and getting Castillo on a grounder.

'That was a big inning for [Henn],' Torre remarked. 'I thought with the bases loaded he showed his aggressiveness and it really paid off for us.'

Rodriguez was at it again in the sixth, extending the Yankee lead to 10-6 with a two-run homer over the wall in right field, and New York tacked on three more in the seventh on an RBI single by Wil Nieves and a two-run double by Abreu.

'They beat the ball around today and they did it all day long,' said Pirate manager Jim Tracy. 'We just could not stop them offensively. There's really nothing that we did wrong. We just could not stop their offense.'

Luis Vizcaino and Scott Proctor combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings before Mike Myers got the last three outs. New York's bullpen combined for 5 1/3 innings of three-hit relief.

The Yankees scored three times in the first. Johnny Damon led off with a base hit and took second as Jeter bounced back to the mound. Abreu then laced a run-scoring triple to the gap in left-center field and Rodriguez drew a walk before Matsui doubled to left-center. Abreu scored easily and Rodriguez was safe on a close play at the plate.

Pittsburgh answered with two in the second. Adam LaRoche drew a walk to start the inning and raced to third on a double by Doumit before Castillo singled up the middle to chase home both runners.

New York added two in the third. Abreu led off with a single and stole second before Rodriguez walked and Matsui dropped in a base hit to load the bases. After Robinson Cano lined out, Melky Cabrera bounced an infield single over the pitcher's mound to score one run and Miguel Cairo followed with a fly ball to deep center field to knock in another for a 5-2 edge.

The Pirates responded with four in the fourth. Xavier Nady drew a one-out walk, Doumit singled and Castillo walked to load the bases for Duffy, who drilled a double just inside the bag at first to score two runs. Bautista followed with a base hit to score two more, giving Pittsburgh a 6-5 lead and chasing Clippard from the game.

Game Notes

The Yankees swept a series for just the third time this season, having taken three from Cleveland in April and three at Texas in May...New York continues interleague play Tuesday when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit for the start of a three-game series...Pittsburgh returns home on Tuesday to open a three-game interleague set with Texas.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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