Jason Giambi and the sluggish New York Yankees suddenly turned sluggerish. The Yankees played home run derby Thursday, with Giambi, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit connecting in a 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Mike Mussina (5-3) won his fourth straight start and earned his 255th career victory, holding on for five innings. Joba Chamberlain pitched an easy eighth and Mariano Rivera closed for his ninth save.
Cleveland was trying to sweep the Yankees in a series of three or more games for the first time in nearly two decades. The last time the Indians did, they completed by beating Tommy John on April 9, 1989 _ John, by the way, turns 65 in two weeks.
Giambi, Cano and Betemit each began the day hitting well under .180. Damon has done better from the leadoff spot, and he homered for the Yankees' first run in the fourth inning and hit a go-ahead double in the fifth.
Cano's homer finished Paul Byrd (1-3) in the seventh and Betemit, subbing for the injured Alex Rodriguez, met reliever Masa Kobayashi with a drive over the center-field fence. The Yankees tied a season high with their four home runs.
The only drama after that came in the eighth when Chamberlain faced David Dellucci. On Tuesday night, Dellucci rocked the hard-throwing reliever with a pinch-hit, three-run homer.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi later talked to Chamberlain about his penchant for shaking off his catcher's signs. This time, Chamberlain again shook off Jose Molina, then got Dellucci to swing over a slider for strike three.
Mussina moved into sole possession of 39th place on the career wins list, breaking a tie with Jack Morris and Red Faber.
Often prickly on the mound, Mussina stared at fill-in umpire Scott Barry after leadoff man Grady Sizemore took a close 1-2 pitch for a ball. When Sizemore singled on the next pitch, Mussina immediately gave the ump another hard look.
That was the only hit Mussina gave up until Cleveland rallied in the fifth.
Damon and Giambi homered in the fourth to put the Yankees ahead 3-0. The Indians bounced back in the fifth against Mussina, tying it on Casey Blake's two-run double and Kelly Shoppach's RBI single.
Giambi's upper-deck drive landed just inside the right-field foul pole. It was his sixth homer of the season, including two off Byrd on April 25 at Cleveland.
Damon blooped a two-out double in the fifth that drove in Cano, who opened the inning by hustling for a double.
The Indians had won five straight on the road. For the second straight game, slumping star Travis Hafner was benched. He's hitting only .209 with three home runs, and manager Eric Wedge is trying to find a way to get him to relax.
The game marked Cleveland's final scheduled appearance at Yankee Stadium. The Indians finished 262-456 overall at the ballpark, starting with a 13-3 win on June 9, 1923, when Tris Speaker hit a grand slam.
Notes:@ Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games. ... Cano and Betemit gave the Yankees their fourth set of back-to-back homers this season. ... Blake continues to deliver in the clutch. He is 14-for-33 with runners in scoring position, 7-for-67 otherwise. ... Rivera didn't record his ninth save last year until June 22.