Jeter's big day helps Yanks sweep Jays

CC Sabathia's left arm apparently came through his 128-pitch outing in Boston just fine.

Alex Rodriguez's left thumb doesn't look too bad, either.

Derek Jeter?

Still making his first half seem as if it occurred during some other season.

Backed by a home run and five RBIs by Jeter and homers by Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, Sabathia turned in 71/3 strong innings Sunday in the Yankees' 9-3 victory over the Blue Jays that completed a three-game sweep.

The Yankees (85-53), winners of four straight and seven of eight, moved 11/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East with headliner performances from the marquee names who likely will have to produce for the team to have a long postseason run.

"We've been playing pretty good for the most part for quite some time," said Jeter, who matched his career high with the five RBIs and is hitting .419 (36-for-86) in his last 20 games. "We played well in Boston and it carried over against Toronto. It all starts with our pitching."

Jeter's three-run blast in the third was his fifth homer of the season and gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead.

Sabathia (19-7, 2.97), whose 128 pitches Tuesday in Boston were the most he's thrown in a game in three years, allowed two runs and six hits in 71/3 innings Sunday. He struck out 10 -- the second straight outing he's done so -- and walked one.

"I felt like I had good command, threw the ball where I wanted to and Russ caught a great game," Sabathia said. "I feel strong, I feel good, the ball's coming out good, my arm feels good. So hopefully I can continue putting the team in a good position to win."

Sabathia, having thrown 111 pitches, left to a standing ovation after striking out Kelly Johnson to start the eighth. Rafael Soriano then allowed a home run to Jose Bautista, 0-for-3 to that point and 0-for-18 in his career against Sabathia. Bautista's major league-leading 40th homer of the season made it 5-3.

"The reason I didn't let him continue was he had the 128 pitches before," Joe Girardi said. "I would have let him continue probably a couple more hitters if he hadn't thrown so many the time before."

Jeter's two-out, two-run single was part of a four-run eighth that included Swisher's two-run homer into the second deck in right. That made it 9-3 and allowed Girardi to rest Mariano Rivera a second straight day.

"Those are big runs in the [eighth] inning because we were able to give Mo the day off, which is important because he had worked four out of six days," Girardi said. "It's great to see those guys come through."

Swisher's home run gave him seven in his last 13 games and 22 overall even though he had only three entering June. Jesus Montero, who has started three of four games since being brought up Thursday, had two hits.

But Girardi was most encouraged by Rodriguez, who, before playing Saturday, had missed six straight games with a sprained left thumb. "It's great to see Alex hit the ball because he's been off a long time," Girardi said.

A-Rod led off the sixth with a homer to rightfield to make it 5-2. It was his 15th of the season and 628th of his career, moving him within two of Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth on the career list.

Rodriguez is highly unlikely to extend his record streak of 13 straight seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs, and he said his timing isn't back yet. But he said it will be.

"Without question, it feels like I've been gone for two months," said A-Rod, who was on the disabled list from July 8 to Aug. 20. "But I feel pretty good . . . I'm right where I need to be. We have plenty of time. I think our medical staff did a very good job of being conservative and now we're down the stretch and I'll be ready."