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Ivan Nova won his fifth game of the year tonight, pitching seven strong innings against the Oakland Athletics and allowing three runs and six hits in the Yankees 6-3 victory.

But two of those hits were home runs, long ones, too, by Josh Reddick and Kila Ka'aihue, continuing a disturbing trend by Nova of surrendering long balls. He has now given up 12 home runs in his first nine starts (56 innings), just one fewer than he allowed all last season in 165 innings.

"I think it’s because he’s been up in the zone sometimes and I think that’s an adjustment he needs to make,'' Joe Girardi said. "Solo homers you can usually live with as long as you don’t give up too many of them in one game. But it is something he needs to improve on.''

Nova's ERA dropped slightly, from 5.69 to 5.46, and his assessment of his own performance was similar to the manager's.

"Leaving the ball up and making the same mistake, throwing the wrong pitch at the wrong time and the hitters are getting really comfortable,'' he said. "It's something I've got to keep working on, and hopefully it stops right there. I know I'm going to give up a home run one day, but not too many like this year so far.''

Nova was hampered somewhat by some tightness in his right hamstring, suffered during his bullpen session on Tuesday. "I'm not going to say my hamstring was 100 percent, but I feel OK,'' he said. "My arm feels good, so the injury that I have is not so serious.''

But a couple of days ago, it was bad enough that Nova was concerned he might not be able to go tonight. "The first couple of days, it was hurting,'' he said. "Yesterday I came here and got treatment and it was much better today. I always tell them, don't take me out of the game, let me pitch.''

Nova's seven innings matched his longest outing of the year, accomplished twice previously this season.

Overall, the Yankees are 23-21, so at best you can probably give the team a grade of C, maybe even a D. But let’s look at the individual marks and see who is carrying his end of the $200 million bargain -- and who is not.

Ivan Nova didn't want to talk about his career-high 12 strikeouts on Saturday.

"I don't care about strikeouts," he said. "I don't like the way I'm pitching right now, I'm making a lot of mistakes."

The 45,302 on hand in the Bronx could attest to that.

Despite having strikeout stuff, Nova gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings in the Yankees' 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. His biggest mistake came in the top of the fifth, when he hung a slider to Joey Votto. The Reds slugger deposited it into the right field seats to give the Reds a 5-2 lead.

Nova was left with the loss after the Yankees' ninth-inning rally fell short.

He has just one win in his last five starts, but Joe Girardi isn't ready to panic. The manager said Nova's struggles resulted from poor location on a handful of pitches.

"He made a mistake to Votto. He left a ball up that he could handle," Girardi said. "It always comes down to a couple inches here and there ... and that's what costs you."

Nova wiggled in and out of trouble early, thanks to his swing-and-miss stuff.

He walked two in the first and then allowed an RBI single to Brandon Phillips, but struck out the next two Cincinnati hitters to get out of the inning.

In the second, Nova went strikeout, double, strikeout, double, strikeout. The end result was another run on the board for the Reds.

"He didn't have a lot of luck on his side today," Girardi said. "Some balls, we almost got to [but] we didn't. But I thought that he threw the ball pretty decent."

Decent is an apt description of Nova's first four innings. But he struggled in the fifth.

Nova game up three hits in the frame -- the last of which was Votto's home run.

But the 25-year-old never lost his stuff. In fact, he fanned three Reds over his final two innings.

Afterward, Nova said it was "frustrating" to have 12 strikeouts but still struggle to retire hitters.

He didn't blame his shortcomings on the ankle injury he suffered Monday in Baltimore.

"It feels fine," he said.

So what was the issue?

Over his last five starts (6.90 ERA), Nova hasn't looked like the pitcher who went 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA last year and was given the ball in Game 5 of the ALDS.

"I've got to go back to work and try to find a way to make the right pitch," said Nova, who is now 4-2 with a 5.69 ERA this season. "I've got to go back to what I was doing last year."

After getting in and out of trouble in the first four innings, Ivan Nova was burned in the fifth.

He allowed a three-run homer to Reds slugger Joey Votto with one out in the inning to give Cincinnati a 5-2 lead.

It seems to be all or nothing for Nova on Saturday. He has allowed six hits and five runs in five innings, but has struck out a career-high 11.

First of all, we need to see whether Ivan Nova even pitches today. He's scheduled to start, despite suffering an ankle injury in his last outing on Monday. But if the ankle bothers him when he warms up, Joe Girardi said he will likely turn to Freddy Garcia or David Phelps.

But what we're really asking here is, can the Yankees count on Nova to be a consistent winner in the rotation the rest of the season?

On first glance, the answer is, yes. Nova went 16-4 a year ago, finishing fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and he is 4-1 so far in 2012. Looks great, right?

But take a closer look. His won-loss record this season may be nice, but his ERA is 5.44 -- almost two runs higher than last year's 3.70.

Nova has given up five or more runs in three of his past four starts. And he has already surrendered nine home runs -- only five pitchers in Major League Baseball have given up more (one of them being teammate Phil Hughes).

Speaking of Hughes, he has taken the brunt of the criticism when it comes to the Yankees' rotation so far this season, with fans wondering if he's better suited to be a reliever. But even Hughes has a better ERA (5.23) than Nova right now.

Does the 25-year-old Nova have promise? Definitely. Are the Yankees high on him? Absolutely.

But he's far from a given -- on Saturday, and for the foreseeable future.

UP NOW: Wallace Matthews' postgame column from Friday night, on the amazing Andy Pettitte. Also, I wrote a piece on the Yankees' continued woes on offense.

ON DECK: Ian Begley and Matt Ehalt will be in the Bronx later this morning, bringing you the latest Yankees news straight from the clubhouse.

IN THE HOLE: The Yanks and Reds will play the second of this three-game interleague set, first pitch at 1:05 p.m. Nova will be opposed by righty Homer Bailey (1-3, 4.35 ERA).

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How do you feel -- can the Yankees really count on Nova? Register your opinion in the Comments section.

The Yankees are still planning to send Ivan Nova to the hill on Saturday afternoon, despite the ankle injury he suffered in his last start on Monday.

"The only thing that could change is when he warmed up tomorrow, if he felt it, and it was bothersome," said manager Joe Girardi before Friday night's series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.

Girardi was also asked if he would manage Friday night's game with that in mind -- the possibility that he might need a spot starter if Nova can't go.

"I'll have to see how the game goes," Girardi said. "I gotta manage today, and I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow."

In an emergency, Girardi could turn to Freddy Garcia, who was yanked from the rotation at the end of April after four ineffective starts. Garcia has made four relief appearances since then, giving up just one run on three hits in seven innings of work.

"Freddy's a guy that I wouldn't mind putting in that position, just to see how he does, because I think he's thrown better since we've gotten him in the bullpen," Girardi said. "But I'd also have to see how he feels after throwing yesterday, but my guess is that he would be OK."

Garcia tossed a scoreless inning in the Yankees' 4-1 loss in Toronto on Thursday night.

The other likely candidate would be rookie David Phelps, who has made nine appearances, including two starts, before Andy Pettitte was added to the rotation. Phelps has an impressive 2.96 ERA, and last pitched on Monday in Baltimore, throwing one scoreless inning.

It didn't take Ivan Nova long to get back on the winning track.

Six days after suffering his first loss in almost a year, the 25-year-old improved to 4-1 on the season, in a 5-3 Yankees win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Nova went seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits, with eight strikeouts and just two walks.

"Everything," said Nova, when asked what was working for him Tuesday night. "I was in control of everything today."

After giving up a single to Ben Zobrist to start the game, Nova was brilliant until the fifth inning, retiring 13 batters in a row. He gave up back-to-back two-out singles to Jeff Keppinger and Will Rhymes in the fifth, but then struck out Sean Rodriguez to end the frame.

The Rays finally got on the board in the sixth, when former Yankee Jose Molina blasted an 0-2 slider over the wall in left-center. Then with one out in the seventh, Nova gave up another solo shot to Luke Scott, followed by a walk to Keppinger and a double to Rhymes.

With the Yankees now clinging to a 3-2 lead, manager Joe Girardi had Rafael Soriano warming in the bullpen. But Girardi elected to stick with Nova.

"It was his game," Girardi said. "He had a great rhythm going until the fifth inning, and then he got a little out of rhythm. But I still liked the way he was throwing the baseball, and I just felt like he was going to get an out."

The move paid off. Nova got Rodriguez to fly out, and struck out Molina to end the threat. Soriano took over in the eighth, allowing one run, and David Robertson closed out the win (although he did load the bases in the ninth).

Nova needed just 93 pitches to get through those seven innings. "That’s a game where he hasn’t thrown a lot of pitches, and he has to shut the door in that situation," Girardi said. "I thought it was real important."

When asked if this was his best outing of the year, Nova answered, "I would say, probably. I’m not sure, because I threw a couple ones that I liked. … It was a really good one."

Perhaps even more telling was the trust the manager showed in the young righty, letting him work out of trouble late in the game.

During spring training in Tampa, Girardi said that only two of his starting pitchers had guaranteed spots in the rotation: CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda.

There's clearly a third now.

With Andy Pettitte slated to return to the major league roster on Sunday, Phil Hughes and David Phelps are pitching for their jobs this week.

But Ivan Nova is not. He is here to stay, with another winning streak under way.

After going undefeated for 333 days -- practically a full calendar year -- Ivan Nova knows what it feels like to be a losing pitcher again.

The 25-year-old had gone 15-0 in his 20 previous starts, one short of Roger Clemens' franchise record of 16 consecutive victories. But he was saddled with the Yankees' 5-0 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday night in the Bronx.

Nova wasn't terrible on Wednesday -- but he wasn't great, either. He lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits, with four walks and a hit batsman.

"For the most part, I thought he threw the ball pretty well," said manager Joe Girardi. "He had a good slider tonight, I thought he had a good fastball tonight. A couple of his changeups got hit -- he elevated his changeups, and those were the home runs that he gave up."

After wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, Nova settled down in the second and third, not allowing a hit during either frame.

His first big mistake came in the fourth -- a 2-0 changeup that Orioles catcher Matt Wieters deposited in the right-field seats for a 1-0 Baltimore lead.

A leadoff walk came back to bite Nova in the sixth -- the batter, Chris Davis, came around to score on a single by Robert Andino, thanks in part to a wild pitch.

But the real damage came in the seventh. Nick Markakis blasted a home run to right, off another changeup, with one out. Nova then hit Adam Jones with a pitch, Jones scored on a double by Wieters, and Girardi had seen enough.

"I felt good out there today," Nova said. "I think I made a couple mistakes with pitches. Sometimes I get behind in the count too much, and every time you do that, you’re gonna get hit. If you don’t get hit when you’re behind in the count, you’re lucky."

Nova went 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA in 2011, with his fourth and final loss coming way back on June 3. He finished fourth in the voting for American League Rookie of the Year.

He was 3-0 coming into this, his fifth start of 2012. But the ERA was nowhere near what it was a season ago -- 5.18 coming in, now up to 5.58.

In his previous start, on April 27 against the Tigers, Nova wasn't sharp either, giving up six runs on 11 hits. But he escaped with a no-decision in a 7-6 Yankees victory.

He didn't escape this time.

"For me this team right now is more important than any personal goal that I have," Nova said. "All of those wins were very good moments for me. Now we gotta go back to work tomorrow and pitch better next time."

Nova received a ton of run support during his winning streak -- the Yankees averaged 8.05 runs per game over those 20 starts. His luck finally ran out on Wednesday, when the Yanks managed only five measly singles and never advanced a runner to second base.

The Yankees' bats will awake from their recent slumber. But either way, the team needs better outings from Nova to compete in the American League East this year.

With Michael Pineda on the shelf, Freddy Garcia banished to the bullpen and Phil Hughes hanging on for dear life in the rotation, Nova has never been more important to the Yankees' fortunes.

(The New York Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday at 7 ET on ESPN.)

Ivan Nova has won 15 straight decisions, one shy of the franchise record held by Roger Clemens. Nova is 3-0 against the Orioles, with all three wins coming during this streak.

This season, Nova’s tendency has been to feel out his slider and curveball after a couple innings then pick one to use predominantly. He’s relied heavily on the slider in only one start even though it’s been his most effective pitch.

Batters are missing on 43 percent of swings at Nova’s slider, and hitting just .118 on at-bats ending on a slider. On all other pitches, they're hitting .386.

Nova has pitched into the sixth inning in all four starts, and has been supported by a bullpen that is tied with the Texas Rangers for the second-best bullpen ERA in the American League. (In Nova's four starts, the Yankees' bullpen has allowed one earned run in 11⅔ innings.)

The American League team with the best bullpen ERA is the Orioles at 1.76. They started the day one game back of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East – thanks in large part to their pitching. After having the worst team ERA in the AL in four of the last 11 seasons, Baltimore's 2.94 team ERA ranks second behind the Rangers in the AL.
Baltimore’s bullpen has stranded 85.6 percent of base runners inherited – only the Yankees in the American League have stranded a higher percentage (86.9 percent). Baltimore’s relievers have allowed just four home runs, thanks in part to an American-League best 52 percent groundball rate.

They also have four pitchers who have come out of the bullpen, thrown more than eight innings and not allowed an earned run in 2012. Luis Ayala, Matt Lindstrom and Jim Johnson have combined for 30⅓ scoreless innings this season, and Darren O’Day has allowed just one earned run in 12⅔ innings.

The Orioles have had to rely on pitching the first month of the season since the offense has been average: sixth in the American League in batting average, tied for sixth in runs and 11th in on-base percentage.

One reason the Orioles' on-base percentage is so low is because they strike out at the second-highest rate in the American League and walk at the second-lowest rate.

Baltimore has been able to overcome some these deficits by hitting for a lot of power. The Orioles' 32 home runs are third in the AL behind the Yankees (38) and Rangers (36).

It is just one start. But when is it not just one start. When is enough enough?

Ivan Nova came in 3-0 with a chance to tie Roger Clemens for the most consecutive decisions with a victory (15) and left battered, but off the hook for the loss after the Yankees' comeback.

Even if Nova was very hittable, tying a career high with 11 allowed in 5 1/3 innings, you can't make too much of his one start.

He was squeezed a little, but didn't look to blame home plate ump Joe West.

"It was on me," Nova said after allowing six runs (all earned) in the Yankees' 7-6 comeback win.

Nova has been great at taking leads by the throat. The Yankees scored five runs (four earned) off AL MVP Justin Verlander, of all people, and twice handed Nova the lead. He returned the advantage both times.

But this is an overall staff problem, not a Nova issue. After 19 games, the Yankees' starting ERA is 5.92. Now, that is a pretty good sample size, given a full-season starter makes about 30-35 starts.

It is not indicative of the potential of the Yankees' rotation or where the numbers will likely end up. At this point, they can almost only go down, right? But the Yankees have been really, really bad so far.

The Yankees entered Friday 29th in baseball in starting pitching ERA.

On top of that, the deep reserve of starters has been blown to smithereens early on. Michael Pineda is out for the season. At Triple-A, Manny Banuelos is on the DL with a bad back and Dellin Betances can't find the strike zone. The Yankees could eventually turn to long man David Phelps and/or D.J. Mitchell. Mitchell, who looked good in spring training, has pitched well at Triple-A thus far.

Andy Pettitte's return is right around the corner, as is his 40th birthday. Can the Yankees really ask Pettitte to be their savior after taking a year off?

What really has to happen is that Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes must start pitching better. Hiroki Kuroda has to show he is consistent. Joe Girardi believes it is right around the corner. It does figure to get better, but how much better? And is that enough?

Recap | Box score | Photos

WHAT IT MEANS: Derek Jeter's 15-game hitting streak ended, but The Captain still delivered.

Jeter went 0-for-4 but gave the Yankees a 7-6 walk-off victory when he scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth inning after he walked with one out in the frame and went first to third on a wild pitch.

The Yankees (11-8) had lost their last two games.

E-JECTED: Joe Girardi was run for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Joe West -- beloved by Yankees fans, we know -- following Russell Martin's backward K in the bottom of the seventh. It was Girardi's 18th career ejection -- 15th as a manager and 14th as a Yankee (13 as a manager, one as a player).

OH, NOVA: Ivan Nova allowed a career high-tying 11 hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and stood to lose. But he was taken off the hook, and his streak of wins in 15 consecutive decisions is still intact. Nova hasn’t lost since June 3, 2011, against the Angels.

While the right-hander was far from effective, his line may have looked better had Raul Ibañez not misplayed Brad Eldred's second-inning smash, which turned into an RBI triple. Robinson Cano also failed to tag Jhonny Peralta leading off the fifth, taking an outfield assist away from Ibañez. Yankees starters have compiled a 5.92 ERA this season; they came into Friday night's game ranked 29th in the majors in that category.

A-ROD: Alex Rodriguez led off the fourth inning with a home run to right. It was A-Rod's fourth homer of the season, 633rd of his career and 288th as a Yankee, passing Bernie Williams for sole possession of sixth place on the franchise's all-time list. The third baseman also singled in a run in the first, flew out to deep center in the fifth and singled sharply to right in the eighth and scored on Mark Teixeira's game-tying sacrafice fly.

MUSCLING UP: Martin also hit an opposite-field jack -- a two-run shot which gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead in the fifth. Martin had gotten off to an 8-for-45 start prior to his second homer of the season.

GOTTA GO TO MO: Mariano Rivera has pitched in 1,050 career games, tying Kent Tekulve for eighth place on baseball's all-time list.

HE'S HUMAN: Justin Verlander had allowed 10 earned runs in his first five starts. But he surrendered four earned runs over six innings on Friday night -- including a pair of homers -- and didn't figure in the decision. Yankee Stadium is the only current American League ballpark in which Verlander has never recorded a victory.

HOW GRAND: Miguel Cabrera joined the 1,000-RBI club with a third-inning single.

UP NEXT: Righty Freddy Garcia (0-1, 9.75 ERA) vs. lefty Drew Smyly (0-0, 1.13) on Saturday.

Justin Verlander Matchups to Watch
Of the eight Yankees who have had at least 10 regular-season and postseason at-bats against Verlander, the only one with better than a .200 batting average against him is Derek Jeter (.364).

We'll get to Jeter in a moment, but one of the most interesting matchups in this game among those Verlander does well against, will be Verlander vs Nick Swisher.

Including postseason, Swisher is 2-for-his-last 31 against Verlander. He was 0-for-5 against Verlander in the 2011 regular season and then 0-for-4 against him in the playoffs.

Swisher put five balls in play against Verlander last season. The four that he hit in the air all shared a common bond-- lazy balls in the air along the third base or left field line.

The other Yankee against whom Verlander has a good history is Mark Teixeira (3-for-26 vs Verlander), though Teixeira had two hits, including an Opening Day home run against Verlander last season.

Ivan Nova Matchups to Watch
Nova will be trying to tie Roger Clemens' Yankees record for consecutive regular-season wins when he takes the mound on Friday. He's won his last 15 regular-season decisions, though he was charged with the loss in Game 5 of the 2011 ALDS against the Tigers in Yankee Stadium.

Nova has survived allowing 25 hits, including four home runs, in 19 innings this season, largely because of his 20 strikeouts and two walks. Opponents are 3-for-28 with nine strikeouts against Nova with runners in scoring position.

Nova's breaking ball has been particularly effective at getting hitters out in key situations. Seven of his nine strikeouts with runners in scoring position have come via the curveball or the slider. He has five strikeouts with those pitches in all other situations.

Jeter Watch
What's noteworthy about the Jeter-Verlander matchup is that Jeter doesn't get hits against Verlander the way he usually does. In the last three seasons, combining the regular season and postseason, Jeter has eight hits agaisnt the Tigers righty. All were to center field or left field.

Jeter enters the night with a 15-game hitting streak and a four-game multi-hit streak. The last time Jeter had that long a hitting streak was in 2009, when he had a 16-game hitting streak. The last time he had that long a multi-hit streak was last August, when he had a five-gamer.

Jeter has a .330 career batting average against the Tigers, but much of that was done earlier in his career. Over the last three regular seasons, he's just 16-for-81 (.198 batting average) against them.

The only two teams against whom he has a higher batting average are the Indians (.340) and the Angels (.333).

Well-Rested Setup Man
The Yankees will have a well-rested setup man for the Tigers series. David Robertson has only pitched once in the Yankees last five games, and didn't pitch at all in the series against the Rangers.

Robertson has pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Tigers, combining regular season and postseason work.

Ivan Nova Matchups to Watch For
Nova is 0-2 with a 6.62 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox.

Though the Red Sox are hitting .315 against Nova, those on the current roster are 7-for-30 against him, including a combined 1-for-13 from Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz.

Nova paid the price for mistakes he’s made to left-handed hitters. Of the 76 pitches he’s thrown lefties this season, 10 have been marked by our pitch evaluation tool with a location of “middle-middle,” which is a pitch hitters historically clobber. That’s an unusually high rate of what we’d call “meatball” pitches for Nova, nearly double what he did in 2011.

Lefties are 5-for-5 against those pitches this season, with two doubles and a home run, though four of those hits came in Nova’s first start against the Orioles.

Though Nova has been hit around a little bit, he’s survived because of two keys. He’s gotten hitters out in two-strike counts (they’re 2-for-27 against him) and with runners in scoring position (the Orioles and Angels were a combined 2-for-18).

Nova will try to win his 15th straight regular-season decision. That would be one shy of Roger Clemens’ franchise record, set in 2001.

Clay Buchholz Matchups to Watch For

Buchholz is 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees. The two Yankees looking forward to seeing him most are Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, who are a combined 16-for-39 against him.

He does have success against one Yankee- Thursday’s hero, Curtis Granderson, who is 0-for-11 against him with six strikeouts and four walks. Of their 15 head-to-head matchups, 12 have gone to a two-strike count.

Buchholz seems to still be getting a feel for his pitches upon his return from injury. He’s thrown his changeup up in the strike zone at a higher rate than usual in his first two starts. He’s also been wild against left-handed hitters, allowing six hits and four walks to the 23 he’s faced.

Derek Jeter Watch
Jeter has 296 hits vs Sox, most among active players…with a four-hit weekend, he’d be the fourth player who debuted since WW II ended with 300 hits against the Red Sox—the other 3 are Hall of Famers -- Al Kaline, Nellie Fox, Brooks Robinson.

Jeter would be the fourth Yankees player with 300 hits against the Red Sox. The other three are Lou Gehrig (404), Babe Ruth (347) and Joe DiMaggio (323).

The Monster Effect
My Stats & Information colleague, Zachary Singer suggested a few months ago that we take a look at the value of the Green Monster to Red Sox hitters.

It is noted in the chart on the right in terms of the impact it has specifically on fly balls. The differences in batting average and slugging percentage are staggering.

For those curious, Cano is the best-performing Yankees player on fly balls to left field at Fenway over the last two seasons. He’s 5-for-10 with five doubles.

Endgame
The ninth inning could be particularly intriguing in a close game, given Mariano Rivera’s history of struggles against the Red Sox, and Boston’s bullpen issues in the early part of the season.

For Rivera, one noteworthy matchup could be him against Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia is 0-for-10 against Rivera. The only active hitter with a worse 0-for is Alex Rios (0-for-15).

Current Red Sox closer Alfredo Aceves is 24-3 in his career, though one of those losses was against the Yankees. He too has a good history vs Granderson, holding him hitless in seven at-bats.

Aceves throws mostly fastballs, but has a nasty curveball that drops out of the strike zone. Of the 11 he’s thrown, nine have been out of the zone. Hitters have taken five swings at the Aceves hook and missed on four of them.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Yankees opened their home schedule last weekend with a 5-0 blanking of the Angels on Friday afternoon. It was the largest shutout in a home opener for the Yankees since an 8-0 win over the Twins in 1988.

Hiroki Kuroda shined in his Yankee Stadium debut, tossing eight scoreless innings to earn his first win in pinstripes.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kuroda became the first Yankee pitcher to throw at least eight shutout innings in his home debut since Jimmy Key in 1993, and the first with eight scoreless innings in a Yankees home opener since Rick Rhoden in 1988.

PHELPS EARNS HIS PINSTRIPES
The Yankees four-game win streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 7-1 loss to the Angels. Phil Hughes was once again inefficient in his second start of the season, needing 84 pitches to get 10 outs while allowing six runs. Hughes is averaging 23 pitches per inning, the highest rate in MLB.

David Phelps was the lone star for the Yankees in the loss, giving up just one run on one hit in 5⅓ innings of relief. That last Yankee to pitch that many innings in relief and allow just one hit was Steve Shields in 1988 against the Red Sox.

Vernon Wells' home run in the fifth inning was the only hit off Phelps. Prior to that hit, Phelps had retired the first 13 batters he faced in his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the longest such streak for any Yankee to start his career in the Expansion Era (since 1961).

NOBODY BEATS NOVA
The bats woke up on Sunday night as the Yankees routed the Angels 11-5. Ivan Nova got the win despite a mediocre line of four runs allowed in six innings. Nova was tough when it counted; he retired all six batters he faced with runners in scoring position.

Nova has now won his last 14 decisions dating to June 2011. Only Roger Clemens, who won 16 straight in 2001, has a longer streak in Yankees history.

During this stretch, Nova has a 3.35 ERA and the Yankees have averaged more than eight runs of support while he's on the mound.

TWINS TAKE THE BRONX
The Twins came to town on Monday night and pulled off a rare feat – beating the Yankees. Entering the game, the Yankees had won 51 of 69 regular season games vs the Twins since Ron Gardenhire's first season as Twins manager in 2002, which is by far the Yankees best record versus any AL team in that span.

The Yankees scored two runs in their first two at-bats of the game – thanks to back-to-back home runs by Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson – but scored just one more run in their final 33 at-bats. It was the sixth time in franchise history the Yankees started a game with consecutive dingers and the first time since September 23, 2005 versus Toronto.

SABATHIA SETTLES DOWN
The Yankees won the second game of the Twins series, 8-3, backed by a quality start from CC Sabathia. Sabathia allowed three runs and four hits in the first three innings, and then didn’t allow another hit or run the rest of the game. He held righties to just three hits in 20 at-bats (.150) in the game, after they had tagged him for a .366 average (15-41) in his first two starts.

Chris Stewart was the unlikely hero with a two-run single in the third inning and another run-scoring single in the seventh inning, giving him a career-high three RBI in the game. That is as many RBI as Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez combined for in the first 11 games of the season.

TWINS TAKE THE BRONX, PART II
From 2002 to 2011, the Twins won five of the 33 regular season games they played at Yankee Stadium. Following the Yankees 6-5 loss on Wednesday, Minnesota has now taken two of its first three games in the Bronx in 2012.

Kuroda struggled for the second time this season, allowing six earned runs and 10 hits and couldn't get out of the fifth inning. This is the first time in his career he has allowed at least six earned runs and double-digit hits in a game.

The Yankees finally got an RBI from their cleanup spot when Cano drove in Jeter in the first inning with a double. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the Yankees' 11-game streak to start a season without an RBI from the No. 4 hitter was the longest such streak in franchise history.

RIDICULOUS YANKEEMETRIC OF THE WEEK
In Tuesday's win over the Twins, Brett Gardner became the 10th Yankee in the Live Ball Era to have two doubles and score three runs from the number eight spot in the lineup. But none of the previous nine guys also walked twice like Gardner did – giving Gardner a special entry in the Yankee record books.

NEW YORK -- Winning Sunday night's game against the Angels was the perfect remedy for the cold that Yankees starting pitcher Ivan Nova has been battling.

Fighting a cold that zapped his power as the game went on, Nova still managed to record the victory in the Yankees' 11-5 win. The right-hander gave up four runs over six innings and improved to 2-0. Nova has won 14 straight decisions dating back to last year.

"I hate losing ... so I'm trying to win every time," Nova said. "We win today and that's good, a good sign for me. I feel good about that."

Nova said he's had the cold for the last few days and couldn't sleep Saturday night. He felt fine as the game started but lost his power in the middle innings, which led to his struggles.

"I like this game so much and like to pitch every time I get the chance," Nova said. "It has to be something really bad so that I can't."

The 25-year-old could not duplicate his success from his previous outing against Baltimore, when he gave up just two runs over seven innings. The Angels had a handful of hard-hit balls, including two home runs. Los Angeles racked up eight hits.

Nova benefited from generous run production from his offense. After he yielded a home run to Mark Trumbo in the second that gave the Angels a 1-0 lead, the Yankees retaliated with eight straight runs. Nova gave up three runs total in the fifth and sixth before departing.

While the Angels were able to put 10 men on base against him, Nova buckled down when there were runners in scoring position. The Angels went 0-for-6 in those spots, with Nova working around a runner on third and one out situation in the first.

"That's the time you have to make the right pitch," Nova said. "Every time you have that you got to make it. I put it in my mind that nobody can score right now. You're locking in and you got to make the right pitch.

"I think when I do that, the game is different. I had that sense last year: Every time there was a guy on base, I got like today and nobody can score right now."

One area Nova wants to improve is how he handles long stretches on the bench. The Yankees had two innings where they scored at least three runs in the first six innings and both Nova and manager Joe Girardi believe that affected the youngster's outing.

"When I sit so long, I always have that problem," Nova said. "I have to start working on that. I got to throw more pitches or do something different."