YANKS MAKE A'S 1ST ORDER OF BUSINESS - ALL ALONE IN TOP SPOT AFTER ROMP

The Yankees open September exactly where they want to be - staring down at the rest of the AL East.
The hot bat of Mark Teixeira and a dismal A's offense helped nfl throwback jerseys
the Yankees to a 9-3 victory in front of 44,575 fans at Yankee Stadium. The victory, along with the Rays' loss to the Blue Jays, snapped the tie atop the division, leaving the Yankees alone in first for the first time in nine days.
With 30 games left in the season the race for October is set to hit full throttle. The Yankees survived an August in which they endured injuries to Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte, a brutal schedule with just two off days and inconsistent starting pitching. They went 16-13 in the month despite the obstacles.
"We came out of it still in first place, which is where we want to be," Teixeira said. "We'd love to be 10 games up, but this division is too tough. We're just going to keep fighting and put August behind us and look forward to September."
Last night, it was another home run from Teixeira, his 30th of the season, plus longballs from Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson that allowed the Yankees to build a big lead and cruise past the A's for their fourth straight victory, their longest winning streak since a seven-game run in the first week of July.
It wasn't all pretty for the Bombers. Phil Hughes walked five batters, tying his career high for the second straight outing, and ran his pitch count up to 98 in five innings. The final numbers were not awful - four hits in five innings and two runs allowed - but it was a performance that is not going to allay any fears the Yankees might have about Chargers jersey
their young right-hander.
"I was embarrassed for myself, so I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been for our guys who were battling at the plate to sit out there and watch that," Hughes said.
As for the Hughes Rules, his season inning count sits at 149 1/3 innings with five or six starts left and a limit believed to be in the 170-175 range.
Hughes escaped big innings, but was down on himself after the game.
"It's never fun to pitch that way," he said. "Everyone says, 'Way to battle.' It's like, I don't want to battle every time. I'd like to get a good one in every now and then."
Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-3, also continues to struggle. He is now hitless in his past 12 at-bats and is in a 2-for-30 skid.
Last night the Bombers feasted on Rutherford, N.J. native Vin Mazzaro. They touched him for seven earned runs on seven hits and three homers.
The Yankees put up three runs in the first on two hits and an error. One of the hits was a rare triple by Jorge Posada, the 10th of his career and his first since April 26, 2008.
Now, the sprint to the postseason begins, and the Yankees enter the stretch drive alone in Bears jersey
first.
"I thought we battled through a tough month with some injuries and an extremely tough schedule physically," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I thought our guys played extremely hard and found a way to have a winning month. In our division, that's extremely important."