The New York Yankees have exercised the 2012 options on the contracts of second baseman Robinson Cano and right fielder Nick Swisher, the team announced Saturday.

Next season, Cano and Swisher are set to make $14 and $10.25 million, respectively.

This season, Cano, who won the 2011 Home Run Derby in Phoenix, hit .302 with 28 home runs and 118 runs batted in.

Cano is a three-time all-star, has won one Gold Glove Award and is a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

Swisher, a 2010 AL All-Star, hit .260 with 23 homers and drove in 85 runs.

The Yankees have another option on Cano next year. When they exercise it, the second baseman will be owed $15 million in 2013.

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NEW YORK, July 22 (UPI) — Homers by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher accounted for seven runs during a nine-run third Friday, sending the New York Yankees soaring past Oakland 17-7.

The Yankees already had a 5-2 lead before they sent 13 men to the plate in their most productive inning of the season.

Teixeira walked to open the third, Robinson Cano doubled Teixeira to third and Swisher then hit a three-run homer. New York had the bases loaded when Teixeira came to the plate for the second time in the inning and he hit a 0-1 pitch from Trevor Cahill out to right for a grand slam.

The Yankees piled up 17 hits and Swisher produced his fourth and fifth RBI of the game with a seventh-inning single.

Cahill (8-9) was charged with 10 runs on nine hits in two-plus innings.

New York starter Phil Hughes could not stick around long enough to get the win, even though he was staked to a 14-2 lead.

Hughes allowed seven runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings and was replaced by eventual winner Hector Noesi.

Noesi (1-0), making the 13th relief appearance of his rookie season, picked up his first major league victory by throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

TORONTO – Having scored only three runs in their last two games, the Toronto Blue Jays can’t get Jose Bautista back in the lineup soon enough.

The star slugger missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury and Toronto couldn’t solve New York’s Phil Hughes, who pitched six strong innings for his first win of the season as the Yankees won 7-2 on Sunday at Rogers Centre.

“Whether it’s day-time, night-time or early morning, (Bautista’s) absence in the lineup is a hole to fill,” Toronto manager John Farrell said. “He’s our leader, he’s our most productive offensive player that’s not to slight anyone who’s in the lineup right now, but that’s a substantial loss when he’s not in there day in and day out.”

The Blue Jays losing to CC Sabathia, who became baseball’s first 14-game winner this season on Saturday, was no surprise. But losing to Hughes (1-2), a former 18-game winner making his second start after a DL stint of nearly three months, was less predictable.

“It’s not 18 but it’s a start,” said Hughes, who was making his fifth start of the season. “It’s a good feeling.

“Today wasn’t the best I could be.”

Curtis Granderson drove in three runs, two with a double in New York’s four-run fourth when the Yankees regained the lead after the Blue Jays tied it 1-1 in the second.

It was the second successive win for the Yankees (55-37) over the Blue Jays (47-49) to salvage a split in the four-game series.

The Yankees reached Carlos Villanueva (5-2) for eight hits and five runs in six innings in the right-hander’s 10th start after he began the season in the bullpen.

“For me it was more location when I got in trouble more than anything else,” said Villanueva who as pitching for the first time since July 7. “Now I got back on five days and keep on my routine. I felt good. Hughes did a good job, you know. He kept us in check.”

Hughes held the Blue Jays to four hits, two walks and two runs while striking out five in his longest start of the season.

“It just shows you he’s getting closer to what he was,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

Hughes was put on the disabled list on April 15 after he had made three unsuccessful starts in which he did not go longer than 4 1/3 innings.

“I thought he took a big step today and that’s what we wanted to see from him,” Girardi said. “I think it’s really important, especially in our race and with what we’re trying to do, to be able to come back and tie this series.”

Jason Frasor pitched the ninth for his 453rd appearance as a Blue Jay to set a club record for a pitcher, surpassing Duane Ward who pitched in 452 games.

He gave up a run Granderson’s single that scored Brett Gardner who walked and stole second.

“It is special,” said Frasor who came to the Blue Jays in spring training of 2004 from the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Jayson Werth. “And it does seem like pitchers bounce around. …I’m just very, very proud. I just don’t know how many relievers have stuck with one team for that long.”

The Blue Jays dropped to 13-25 in day games this season and to 5-14 at day games at home to go with a home record of 21-24.

“We continue to look for ways to prepare as best we can to combat the day time,” Farrell said. “If the exact answer was present we’d certainly be doing it, but we’ve got to continually find ways to shake things up in day time, whether that’s revamping of the line-up, I’m not here to say that it is. The day-time record speaks for itself and it’s an Achilles heel at this point.”

The Yankees loaded the bases in the first inning but scored only once with Nick Swisher’s single that plated Gardner. Gardner stole second, Mark Teixeira walked and Robinson Cano singled to load them up for Swisher.

Edwin Encarnacion led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on a single to left by Travis Snider to tie the game 1-1.

Yankees took the lead for good with four runs in the fourth. Swisher led off with a single and scored on a one-out double from Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que.

Eduardo Nunez singled and Ramiro Pena hit a sacrifice fly. Gardner singled before Granderson doubled in two more runs.

The Blue Jays answered with one in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Hill that brought home Encarnacion.

Cano’s sacrifice fly to score Granderson in the seventh bumped New York’s lead to 6-2.

Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 36,586. … Toronto slugger Jose Bautista began some light work on Sunday and will do more on Monday’s off day. Jays manager John Farrell it is possible he could return from his ankle injury on Tuesday. … Brett Cecil (2-4, 5.66 earned-run average) will start against Seattle’s Michael Pineda (8-6, 3.03 ERA) in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series. … Reliever Casey Janssen pitched another 1-2-3 inning for double-A New Hampshire on Saturday and appears ready to come off the disabled list where he has been since June 17 with a strained right forearm.

The big blow came in the fourth inning when Swisher showed bunt against Gio Gonzalez for the first two pitches with runners on first and second and no outs. After consulting with third-base coach Tony Pena during a mound visit, Swisher swung away at the next pitch and delivered his fourth home run of the season.

“I thought I was told to lay one down,” Swisher said. “So finally after it got to 2-0 and the pitching coach came out I went over to [Pena] and said, ‘Hey man, what do you want me to do right here?’ He said, ‘I want you to let it loose.’ So I did.”

He hit the next pitch over the leftfield fence to give New York the lead for good. Derek Jeter added his 2,984th hit and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have their longest winning streak against the A’s since winning 14 in a row from 1956-57.

“Any time you win 10 in a row against a club, it just doesn’t happen very often,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “They have talent over there. They have a very good pitching staff. We just kind of had our way. We were fortunate.”

Josh Willingham hit a two-run home run and Gonzalez (5-3) took his first loss since April for Oakland, which has lost 23 of the last 26 meetings against New York.

Burnett (6-3) had not won a game away from Yankee Stadium since last July in Cleveland, going 0-5 with a 5.64 ERA in his previous 11 road starts.

He looked to be on his way to another rough day when Willingham homered in the first inning, but didn’t allow anything else.

Burnett gave up two runs and three hits in seven inning for the fourth straight strong start from New York’s rotation, giving the Yankees a season-long four-game win streak. Burnett allowed only one hit after the first inning.

Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth, snaring a line drive to start an inning-ending doubleplay. Mariano Rivera finished for his 14th save in 17 chances and first since May 10. It was Rivera’s 1,002nd career appearance, tying Goose Gossage for 14th place all-time.

In other games:

* At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Rick Porcello (5-3) pitched into the seventh, lifting the Tigers to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Detroit swept the three-game series and has won four straight, while the Twins have lost 10 of 12, falling to 17-37 for the worst record in baseball.

Drew Butera hit a two-run homer in the seventh to pull Minnesota within two, but the Twins failed to take advantage of loading the bases later in the inning.

Twins designated hitter Jim Thome left in the sixth inning after straining his left quadriceps and his status is day-to-day.

* At Boston, Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and a two-run homer in the ninth as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Red Sox, 7-4, to sweep the three-game series.

Gavin Floyd (6-5) allowed four runs in 6 innings. Sergio Santos pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 10 opportunities.

* At St. Petersburg, Fla., Colby Lewis (5-5) scattered four hits over eight innings and Elvis Andrus had two RBI to lead the Texas Rangers to a 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

* At Seattle, Adam Jones had three hits against his former team, including the go-ahead homer into the upper deck in the eighth inning, to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-1 win over the Mariners.

* At Kansas City, Billy Butler hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Royals to a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

* At Toronto, Matt LaPorta hit a three-run homer in an eight-run third inning and Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore had three RBI each to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 13-9 win over the Blue Jays.

By JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Once Nick Swisher got the signs down, he delivered the big hit that helped the New York Yankees complete a three-game sweep.

Swisher hit a three-run homer after mistakenly thinking he was supposed to bunt to help A.J. Burnett snap an 11-start winless streak on the road as the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics for the 10th straight time, 4-2 on Wednesday.

The big blow came in the fourth inning when Swisher showed bunt against Gio Gonzalez for the first two pitches with runners on first and second and no outs.

After consulting with third-base coach Tony Pena during a mound visit, Swisher swung away at the next pitch and delivered his fourth home run of the season.

“I thought I was told to lay one down,” Swisher said. “So finally after it got to 2-0 and the pitching coach came out I went over to (Pena) and said, ’Hey man, what do you want me to do right here?’

“He said, ’I want you to let it loose.’ So I did.”

He hit the next pitch over the left-field fence to give New York the lead for good. Derek Jeter added his 2,984th hit and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have their longest winning streak against the A’s since winning 14 in a row from 1956-57.

“Any time you win 10 in a row against a club, it just doesn’t happen very often,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “They have talent over there. They have a very good pitching staff. We just kind of had our way. We were fortunate.”

Josh Willingham hit a two-run home run and Gio Gonzalez (5-3) took his first loss since April for Oakland, which was swept by the Yankees in a three-game series and has lost 23 of the last 26 meetings against New York.

Burnett (6-3) had not won a game away from Yankee Stadium since last July in Cleveland, going 0-5 with a 5.64 ERA in his previous 11 road starts. Continued…

He looked to be on his way to another rough day when Willingham homered in the first inning, but didn’t allow anything else.

Burnett gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings for the fourth straight strong start from New York’s rotation, giving the Yankees a season-long four-game win streak.

Burnett allowed only one hit after the first inning — a two-out triple by Coco Crisp in the fifth — as he went to more two-seam fastballs instead of four-seamers.

“The four-seamer was up early,” he said. “I think in times in the past, I would stick with it and maybe get beat up. I realized the two-seamer kept me down in the zone today and Ii used that more.”

Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth, snaring a line drive to start an inning-ending double play. Mariano Rivera finished for his 14th save in 17 chances and first since May 10.

It was Rivera’s 1,002nd career appearance, tying Goose Gossage for 14th place all-time.

The A’s came into the series on a four-game winning streak with their top three starters lined up to face the powerful Yankees. But New York battered Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gonzalez for 18 runs in the three-game sweep.

Gonzalez allowed four runs five hits and four walks in 6 1-3 innings in this game as the three starters fell to 1-10 with a 7.24 ERA in their careers against the Yankees.

“As a team you have to attack early and keep the pressure on them,” Gonzalez said. “You let them know right off the bat, you are going to give them everything you got.

“You can’t cruise when you think you have them down. They always seem quick to be able to get a little rally going. When it’s going their way, it’s going their way.” Continued…

For the third straight day, the A’s fell behind before even coming to bat.

After allowing two-run homers in the first inning the past two days, Oakland managed to keep the deficit at one this time: Jeter led off with a double — the third straight game he has opened with a hit — and scored on Rodriguez’s two-out double.

That was the first hit allowed by Gonzalez in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Oakland responded in the bottom half with a two-run homer of its own. Willingham’s 10th of the season came with two outs and David DeJesus on second, giving the A’s a 2-1 lead.

That ended a stretch of 60 straight innings that Oakland did not hold a lead at the end of a frame against the Yankees.

The lead lasted only until the fourth inning, when Swisher connected for a three-run shot off Gonzalez, one of the players the A’s acquired when they dealt Swisher to the Chicago White Sox three years ago.

“I just found out this morning that we were in the same trade,” Swisher said. “No one likes getting traded. You don’t really pay attention to who’s on the other side of it.”

Notes: Yankees RHP Phil Hughes (shoulder inflammation) threw about 50 pitches in a bullpen session the game and is scheduled to face hitters Saturday in Anaheim. … Oakland reliever Joey Devine has not allowed an earned run in 33 consecutive innings dating to May 23, 2008.

By JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Once Nick Swisher got the signs down, he delivered the big hit that helped the New York Yankees complete a three-game sweep.

Swisher hit a three-run homer after mistakenly thinking he was supposed to bunt to help A.J. Burnett snap an 11-start winless streak on the road as the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics for the 10th straight time, 4-2 on Wednesday.

The big blow came in the fourth inning when Swisher showed bunt against Gio Gonzalez for the first two pitches with runners on first and second and no outs.

After consulting with third-base coach Tony Pena during a mound visit, Swisher swung away at the next pitch and delivered his fourth home run of the season.

“I thought I was told to lay one down,” Swisher said. “So finally after it got to 2-0 and the pitching coach came out I went over to (Pena) and said, ’Hey man, what do you want me to do right here?’

“He said, ’I want you to let it loose.’ So I did.”

He hit the next pitch over the left-field fence to give New York the lead for good. Derek Jeter added his 2,984th hit and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have their longest winning streak against the A’s since winning 14 in a row from 1956-57.

“Any time you win 10 in a row against a club, it just doesn’t happen very often,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “They have talent over there. They have a very good pitching staff. We just kind of had our way. We were fortunate.”

Josh Willingham hit a two-run home run and Gio Gonzalez (5-3) took his first loss since April for Oakland, which was swept by the Yankees in a three-game series and has lost 23 of the last 26 meetings against New York.

Burnett (6-3) had not won a game away from Yankee Stadium since last July in Cleveland, going 0-5 with a 5.64 ERA in his previous 11 road starts.

He looked to be on his way to another rough day when Willingham homered in the first inning, but didn’t allow anything else.

Burnett gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings for the fourth straight strong start from New York’s rotation, giving the Yankees a season-long four-game win streak.

Burnett allowed only one hit after the first inning — a two-out triple by Coco Crisp in the fifth — as he went to more two-seam fastballs instead of four-seamers.

“The four-seamer was up early,” he said. “I think in times in the past, I would stick with it and maybe get beat up. I realized the two-seamer kept me down in the zone today and Ii used that more.”

Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth, snaring a line drive to start an inning-ending double play. Mariano Rivera finished for his 14th save in 17 chances and first since May 10.

It was Rivera’s 1,002nd career appearance, tying Goose Gossage for 14th place all-time.

The A’s came into the series on a four-game winning streak with their top three starters lined up to face the powerful Yankees. But New York battered Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gonzalez for 18 runs in the three-game sweep.

Gonzalez allowed four runs five hits and four walks in 6 1-3 innings in this game as the three starters fell to 1-10 with a 7.24 ERA in their careers against the Yankees.

“As a team you have to attack early and keep the pressure on them,” Gonzalez said. “You let them know right off the bat, you are going to give them everything you got.

“You can’t cruise when you think you have them down. They always seem quick to be able to get a little rally going. When it’s going their way, it’s going their way.”

For the third straight day, the A’s fell behind before even coming to bat.

After allowing two-run homers in the first inning the past two days, Oakland managed to keep the deficit at one this time: Jeter led off with a double — the third straight game he has opened with a hit — and scored on Rodriguez’s two-out double.

That was the first hit allowed by Gonzalez in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Oakland responded in the bottom half with a two-run homer of its own. Willingham’s 10th of the season came with two outs and David DeJesus on second, giving the A’s a 2-1 lead.

That ended a stretch of 60 straight innings that Oakland did not hold a lead at the end of a frame against the Yankees.

The lead lasted only until the fourth inning, when Swisher connected for a three-run shot off Gonzalez, one of the players the A’s acquired when they dealt Swisher to the Chicago White Sox three years ago.

“I just found out this morning that we were in the same trade,” Swisher said. “No one likes getting traded. You don’t really pay attention to who’s on the other side of it.”

Notes: Yankees RHP Phil Hughes (shoulder inflammation) threw about 50 pitches in a bullpen session the game and is scheduled to face hitters Saturday in Anaheim. … Oakland reliever Joey Devine has not allowed an earned run in 33 consecutive innings dating to May 23, 2008.

The Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon in Oakland, extending their streak to ten straight against the Athletics and sweeping the three-game series.

Right-fielder Nick Swisher proved to be the difference maker, when, after going down 2–1 after one inning, the Yankees came thundering back in the top of the fourth.

Oakland pitcher Gio Gonzalez started to unravel after giving up a leadoff single and a walk. Pitching coach Ron Romanick came to the mound to settle down his young star, but to no avail.

After coming up just short in the top of the 2nd, Nick Swisher came up to bat and crushed a three run home run to left field, putting the Yankees up 4-2.

Starter A.J. Burnett pitched a beautiful game of three-hit baseball for the Yankees, earning his sixth win of the season. His only mistake came in the bottom of the first inning. After Burnett gave up a double to right fielder David DeJesus, Josh Willingham stepped up to the plate, crushing a 3–1 fastball into the left-field seats.

Throwing a fastball on a 3–1 count to the cleanup hitter is a questionable call, but Burnett didn’t let it shake him. He settled into a nice rhythm for the rest of the game.

The Yankees starter finished by retiring 13 of the last 14 hitters he faced before exiting at the end of the seventh. He left the game having given up only two runs on three hits, with five strike outs and three walks.

Alex Rodriguez, playing the DH role for the game, gave the Yankees their first run of the game in the top of the first. Derek Jeter started the game out with a double to left and Rodriguez knocked him in with a double of his own. Rodriquez finished the game going 2–4 with one RBI.

The Yankees stole four bases in each of the first two games, setting a season-high record on the season. Catcher Russell Martin stole second base in the top of the fourth, giving the Yankees nine stolen bases during the three-game series.

The Yankees will take Thursday off before traveling to Anaheim to face the Angels for a three-game series, the final leg of this West Coast trip.