WHAT IT MEANS: Russell Martin ended Friday night's game in dramatic fashion.

The Yankees catcher drilled a Sean Doolittle fastball into the left-field seats in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Yankees to a 2-1 win against the Oakland A's.

It was Martin's second walk-off homer of the season and the Yankees' third walk-off win this year. Overall, Joe Girardi's club has won six straight.

THE GOOD: CC Sabathia looked like an ace again.

The Yanks' big lefty shut down the A's on Friday night, tossing eight shutout innings in the win. He gave up just three hits, struck out 11 and walked two.

Sabathia had struggled in his previous four starts, going 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA. In the nine starts that preceded that stretch, Sabathia was 6-0 with a 3.25 ERA.

He looked like the ace of old on Friday. His velocity was solid and his breaking ball was sharp. His first eight strikeouts came on the breaking ball.

ICHIRO THE GREAT: Ichiro Suzuki's hot streak continued. He went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. He is 11-for-15 over the past four games. Unreal.

CAPTAIN'S HIT STREAK: Derek Jeter served as the Yanks' DH on Friday night as Girardi decided to play him a half day so he could rest his injured ankle. Jeter went 1-for-4 with a single to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games.

NUNEZ FLASHES LEATHER: Eduardo Nunez is often criticized for his shortcomings in the field. But on Friday night, he made a spectacular play to end the seventh. Sabathia walked Chris Carter after striking out the first two A's. Josh Donaldson followed with a sharp liner that Nunez dove to get on a line to end the inning.

THE BAD: For the first time in a while, Rafael Soriano showed some signs of vulnerability. The Yankee closer coughed up a one-run lead in the ninth on Friday by giving up a monster home run to pinch hitter Brandon Moss.

After two walks (one intentional), Soriano bounced back by striking out Seth Smith to end the inning. Overall, Soriano has done a fantastic job in place of the injured Mariano Rivera.

So, if you're looking to blame someone, I'd point the finger at the Yankees' offense, which couldn't get anything going against Jarrod Parker (8 IP, 6 hits, 1 R, 7 Ks)

WHAT'S NEXT: Ivan Nova (12-7, 4.85 ERA) faces lefty Travis Blackley (5-3, 3.36 ERA) on Saturday. In the finale on Sunday, it's Hiroki Kuroda (14-10, 3.26) vs. RHP A.J. Griffin (6-1, 2.45).

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT: Has your confidence in Sabathia been restored?