Yanks complete sweep of Tribe
The Indians haven't won at Yankee Stadium in more than two years.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees were feeling pretty good about themselves after completing a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians.
"Our pitching staff's been there," Derek Jeter said. "And now we're scoring runs and playing good defense."
Jorge Posada's two-run homer sparked New York's six-run sixth inning, and Mike Mussina pitched shutout ball into the seventh as the Yankees swept the series with a 7-4 victory Sunday.
New York improved to a season-high 25 games over .500 at 61-36.
"This is the business half of the season," manager Joe Torre said.
Mussina certainly took care of business, earning his first win since June 26 by allowing three runs and seven hits in 62/3 innings.
Hitting a snag
It appeared Mussina (11-6) was well on his way to a shutout, cruising through the first six innings.
But after the Yankees' big inning, Mussina came out in the seventh and gave up three runs and five hits -- including consecutive two-out RBI singles by Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta.
Mussina refused to blame his rocky seventh on having to wait in the dugout while his teammates battered Indians relievers.
"I'm never going to complain about six runs in an inning, even if I have to sit there for a half-hour," Mussina said. "Most of the pitches weren't that bad. They were just able to do something with them."
The Indians scored another run in the ninth on Martinez's run-scoring groundout, but Mariano Rivera finished for his 18th save in 19 opportunities.
"You've got to give them credit," Mussina said. "They fought back and made a game of it."
Strong offense
Jeter had three hits and an RBI and Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs in the Yankees' fifth straight victory, and sixth in a row at home.
"It's good to know that we're capable of putting together big innings," Jeter said. "Occasionally, we're going to run into good pitching, and Jake Westbrook did a good job against us. But it's good to know that we don't have to rely just on home runs."
Leading 1-0, the Yankees broke it open with six runs on five hits in the sixth.
Reliever Alex Herrera issued a leadoff walk to Hideki Matsui and Posada followed with his 18th homer. Soriano added a two-run double off Jason Boyd later in the inning to make it 5-0, and Jeter followed with an RBI double. Matsui made it 7-0 with a two-out RBI single.
Herrera allowed four runs, two hits and walked two without getting an out.
"That inning was huge," Jeter said. "A one-run lead is not a comfortable lead."
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Indians rookie second baseman Zach Sorensen couldn't come up with a potential double-play grounder hit by Sierra, allowing Matsui to score.
Westbrook (4-5), once a Yankees prospect, labored through five innings, throwing 104 pitches and allowing one unearned run and three hits.
"I felt like I did a good job of battling and getting out of some jams," Westbrook said. "I felt like I really didn't give up any runs. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do much offensively."
The loss was the Indians' fifth straight overall, and eighth in a row in New York. Their last win at Yankee Stadium was June 26, 2001.
"We don't get caught up in who we're playing," manager Eric Wedge said. "To us, each game is the same. But big innings were a problem in this series."
Notes
The Indians have scored exactly four runs in seven straight games.
The Yankees completed their first four-game sweep of the Indians since June 21, 1996, in Cleveland.
The Indians were last swept in a four-game series at Yankee Stadium from May 9-12, 1994.
It is New York's first six-game home winning streak since winning six in a row from May 16-21, 2002.
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