Sabathia wins 16th; A-Rod slams 2,500th hit

BALTIMORE – CC Sabathia earned his American League-leading 16th victory and Alex Rodriguez got his 2,500th hit and drove in four runs as the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-2, for a three-game sweep on Wednesday.

Eric Hinske homered and Johnny Damon had four hits for the Yankees, who used a seven-run ninth inning to turn a tight game into a rout. New York has won six straight and is 34-11 since the All-Star break.

Sabathia (16-7) allowed one run in seven innings. Rodriguez got his milestone hit in the fifth inning, a single off Jason Berken, and lined a two-run single up the middle in the seventh against Kim Mickolio (0-2) to break a 1-1 tie. 

At Arlington, Texas, Elvis Andrus hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Nelson Cruz went deep for the 30th time and Texas gained ground in the AL playoff chase with a 6-4 win over Toronto for its third straight victory.

Texas moved within 3 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels, who have lost two in a row. It is the closest the Rangers have been in the division since Aug. 9. The Rangers are 2 1-2 games behind wild-card leader Boston.

The Rangers played their first game since finding out All-Star third baseman Michael Young will miss at least two weeks because of a strained left hamstring. (AP)