Pittsburgh 2B Neil Walker was scratched about an h

NEW YORK, N.Y. - In a season full of bumps for the New York Yankees, there has been one sure thing. Namely, Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka tamed the highest-scoring team in the majors and the Yankees stopped a four-game skid, beating Oakland 2-1 Thursday and ending the Athletics five-game winning streak. Facing the As for the first time, Tanaka (9-1) got an early jolt when John Jaso homered as the second batter in the game. But that was the only run the Japanese rookie allowed in six innings, and he exited with an AL-leading 2.02 ERA. "I think theres an expectation when he goes out there that hes going to give you distance, that hes going to shut them down," manager Joe Girardi said. And given the Yankees recent rut, he added: "I think you could say its his biggest performance for us." David Robertson worked the ninth for his 13th save in 15 chances, helped by a lucky bounce. Stephen Vogt singled with one out and pinch-runner Craig Gentry stole second. Alberto Callaspo followed with a hard grounder that deflected off Robertsons leg, and first baseman Mark Teixeira corralled the carom and flipped to the pitcher covering the bag for an out. Pinch-hitter Derek Norris looked at strike three for the final out. "I was probably the happiest guy in the stadium that the ball hit me," Robertson said. Shortly after he was inserted for speed and defence, Yankees right fielder Ichiro Suzuki blunted Oaklands bid to tie it in the eighth with a sliding catch on Brandon Moss liner into the gap with runners on first and second. After a wild pitch, Adam Warren struck out Yoenis Cespedes to end the inning. The Yankees wrapped up a 2-5 homestand that left them one game over .500. Its been a struggle all year for a team beset by injuries and inconsistency among the hitters, rotation and bullpen. Tanaka restored some order, at least for a day, as the Yankees broke a six-game losing streak to Oakland. The As own the top record in the AL, and best road mark. "As far as my personal performance goes, I dont think it was my best," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "Given the fact our team was in a little bit of a funk and that faced one of the best teams in the league, I was glad I was able to contribute." Tanaka gave up five hits, struck out four and walked one. He retired 10 straight batters after Jasos homer and left several As taking tentative swings. As Tanaka has demonstrated during his first 12 starts in the majors — at least six innings with three or fewer earned runs, all of them — he toughens up when theres trouble. He twice escaped two-out, two-on jams, and threw 104 pitches overall to a team known for grinding out at-bats. Before the game, As manager Bob Melvin said there was some "intrigue" to seeing Tanaka up close, kidding he wouldve preferred Oakland miss the aces turn. "We made him work some, maybe a little bit more than hes had to, where his pitch count got up and they had to get him out," he said. "But you can see why his numbers are the way they are. Hes got a lot of pitches." Brett Gardner hit a leadoff homer in the third against Drew Pomeranz (5-3) for a 2-1 lead. Jacoby Ellsbury almost had a two-run homer for the Yankees in the first. He hit a drive to the top of the right-field wall, hustled around the bases and slid into second. The umpires, however, ruled it a home run and Ellsbury got up and trotted to the plate and into the dugout. Melvin challenged the call and it was overturned to a double. Carlos Beltran then struck out to finish the inning. On the disabled list since May 15 because of a bone spur in his right elbow, the star outfielder was activated and went 0 for 3 as the designated hitter. "I have to find a way to adjust to my role right now," he said. Alfonso Soriano broke an 0-for-16 slump with an RBI single in the second, set up when Brian McCann singled and continued to second as the ball skipped past Moss in left field for an error. NOTES: The As have homered in 13 straight games, connecting 23 times in that span. ... Tanaka had gone five starts without allowing a homer. ... Cespedes was Oaklands DH. Melvin gave the slugging OF a lighter day after hitting 2 HRs Wednesday night. Melvin also said Cespedes was working through some shoulder issue. ... RF Vogt made a nice catch in his first major league start in the outfield. Hes normally a catcher. ... Seven veterans of the D-Day invasion were honoured at home plate before the game. ... There was a pregame moment of silence for former Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer, who died Wednesday at 83. A video tribute before the third inning drew cheers. Venta De Air Max 95 . Six years of waiting are finally over for the Dallas defenceman. Daley had a goal and an assist, Kari Lehtonen recorded his fifth shutout of the season, and the Stars clinched their first playoff berth since 2008 with a 3-0 victory against the St. Zapatillas Air Max 95 Baratas . The biggest shock of this seasons competition was on when Watford took a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes at Etihad Stadium, only for a remarkable Aguero-led comeback by City in the final half-hour. The Argentina striker produced clinical finishes in the 60th and 79th minutes to level the score before Aleksandar Kolarov put City in front in the 87th. http://www.airmax95baratas.es/ . Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Raptors have traded forward Steve Novak along with a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Diante Garrett - who will then be waived. Comprar Air Max 95 Baratas . Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year. Air Max 95 Baratas . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen made a "minor" adjustment in the batters box a couple weeks ago hoping to give him a fraction of a second longer to see whats coming. Consider the experiment a success. McCutchen hit his eighth homer and drove in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. "When I get the barrel to it, good things happen," McCutchen said. "Thats basically what Im doing." McCutchen drove a two-run shot to right field in the third inning then added an RBI-double in the fifth off Edwin Jackson (4-6) as the Pirates bounced back from two tough losses to Milwaukee over the weekend in which they left a combined 18 runners on base. There were no such problems while sending Jackson to his fourth loss in his last five decisions. "I got to do a better job of mixing up instead of getting beat with same pitch twice," Jackson said. "I let the guy whos the threat on the team beat me twice and you cant do that." Charlie Morton (3-7) allowed one run over seven innings to win for the third time in his last four starts after beginning the season 0-6. Ike Davis hit his fifth homer of the season while Starling Marte broke out of a lengthy slump with three hits. Starlin Castro went 3 for 4 with his eighth home run and two RBIs for the Cubs, who fell to 10-22 on the road, the worst mark in all of baseball. "We try to figure out what it is but we havent figured it out yet," Castro said. "You go back and see those games we play good at home and we should be playing that way on the road but were not." It wasnt exactly the best way to start a 10-game road swing for Chicago, which was coming off a successful 5-1 homestand that included the teams longest winning streak in more than a year. Any momentum generated at Wrigley Field vanished on a night Morton avoided the control problems that have plagued him much of the season. The right-hander came in with a major-league high 13 hit batters while averaging nearly 2.5 walks per start. Maybe it was the extra day of rest he asked for after feeling tired following a win over San Diego last week, but Mortons wildness vanished for seven innings at least.dddddddddddd He didnt walk a batter, struck out a season-high seven and needed just 82 pitches to get 21 outs. "I dont think it was great control but I got some quick outs, that helps," Morton said. "Not so many deep counts. Not as erratic, my misses were more in the zone and I got away with them." The Cubs needed a grounder deflecting off the glove of shortstop Jordy Mercer to extend the sixth inning before finally scoring on Castros long double to right. All the run did was draw Chicago within 4-1, with most of the damage done by the reigning NL MVP. Marte, who began the night 0 for his last 23, doubled home Pedro Alvarez to give the Pirates the lead in the first. McCutchen pushed it to 3-0 in the third when he patiently waited as Jackson worked him away before reaching out and sending a pitch into the first row of seats in right for his fourth homer this month. McCutchen nearly did it again two innings later, lacing a double off the wall in right to score Travis Snider and give Morton all the cushion he would need. Bothered by some bad luck early in the season, Morton lowered his ERA to 3.14. NOTES: Pittsburgh 2B Neil Walker was scratched about an hour before the first pitch with abdominal pain and underwent an emergency appendectomy. The team placed Walker on the DL after the game and called up highly touted prospect OF Gregory Polanco from Triple-A Indianapolis. Polanco hit .347 with seven home runs in the minors this spring. ... Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole threw 25 soft-toss pitches on flat ground before the game. Cole, who leads the Pirates with six victories, was placed on the DL on Sunday with what the team is calling right shoulder fatigue. ... Chicago RF Ryan Sweeney made a rehab start for Class A Kane County on Monday night. Sweeney went on the DL May 3 with a right hamstring strain. ... The series continues Tuesday. Travis Wood (5-5, 5.04 ERA) starts for the Cubs against Francisco Liriano (1-6, 4.54). Wood is 2-4 with an 8.04 ERA on the road this season. ' ' '