Sabathia leads Yanks over Brewers

CC Sabathia got caught a little bit by surprise.

He was out on the field at Yankee Stadium when it hit him: He was about to face his friends. And that was a big deal.

"Rickie and Prince and Braunie," Sabathia said referring to Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, three of his former teammates from his brief time with the Brewers in 2008. "I didn't expect to be nervous, but I was."

Once the game started, though, Sabathia was his usual dominant self. He tied a career high by striking out 13 and pitched the Yankees to a 5-0 win yesterday over Milwaukee.

"That was my team," Sabathia said. "I try to be laid back and not let that affect me, but it did."

Mark Teixeira hit his 300th homer to help the Yankees finish off June with a season-best five-game winning streak.

Sabathia (11-4) won for the eighth time in nine starts.

In 7 innings, Sabathia gave up six hits and two walks. Every batter he fanned came on a swinging third strike.

Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 2008 after he was traded to the Brewers by Cleveland. He pitched Milwaukee into the playoffs that season and remains close to the nucleus of that team.

"It was great to see those guys," Sabathia said. "I played with and shared some special moments with them."

Randy Wolf (6-5) lost for the first time in eight starts since May 17.

In other news, Derek Jeter is set to rejoin the Yankees on Monday in his return from a calf injury.

The shortstop said yesterday he will play minor league rehab games tomorrow and Sunday at Double A Trenton and be with the Yankees for a series in Cleveland.

In other interleague games:

* At Detroit, Justin Verlander slowed down the rampaging New York Mets, pitching seven solid innings to lead the Tigers to a 5-2 win.

The Mets had scored a team-record 52 runs in their previous four games, including 30 in the first two of this series. Verlander (11-3) prevented a sweep, holding New York to one run and seven hits. Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran homered for New York. Andy Dirks hit a solo shot for the Tigers.

* At Denver, Juan Pierre laced a tiebreaking, two-run, bases-loaded single off the wall in the 10th inning, helping the Chicago White Sox rally for a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

* At Baltimore, Lance Berkman homered twice, Jon Jay hit a three-run shot, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Orioles, 9-6, to complete a three-game sweep.

* At Oakland, Chris Volstad (4-7) allowed one unearned run in seven innings and John Buck hit a two-run double to help the Florida Marlins beat the Athletics, 5-4.

* At Toronto, Jeff Karstens (6-4) allowed two runs over seven innings, Brandon Wood hit a two-run homer, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their first interleague road series since 2003, beating the Blue Jays, 6-2.

* At Houston, Jason Michaels homered and drove in three runs and Wandy Rodriguez (6-4) and three relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Astros snapped an eight-game home losing streak with a 7-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

In a National League game:

* At Chicago, pinch-hitter Geovany Soto's three-run homer capped a four-run 13th inning and sent the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano left in the second inning because of soreness in his lower back and went for an MRI.

* The Colorado Rockies bolstered their infield by acquiring veteran second baseman Mark Ellis from the Oakland Athletics. The Rockies sent minor league righthander Bruce Billings and a player to be named to Oakland for the 34-year-old Ellis and cash.

* Detroit Tigers lefthander Phil Coke is moving back to the bullpen after struggling in his first half-season as a regular starter. He is 1-8 with a 4.91 ERA.

* The Florida Marlins will open their new $515 million ballpark against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 4, a person familiar with next season's schedule told the Associated Press The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball does not plan to announce the schedule, which is still preliminary, until September. Florida's downtown ballpark, which has a retractable roof, will be the first to open in the majors since Minnesota's Target Field in 2010.

* Prince Fielder and David Ortiz will get to pick their teammates for the All-Star Home Run Derby.

Major League Baseball announced that Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers was chosen as captain of the National League squad and Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox was picked to be the American League captain.

Ortiz, the derby champion last season and Fielder, who won in 2009, will each pick three teammates for the July 11 slugfest at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The paychecks of some part-time game-day staffers for the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced, according to a report.

ESPNLosAngeles.com reported that a team spokesman said the checks didn't bounce because of lack of funds. He attributed it to the freezing of the team's accounts for 48 hours after the team filed for bankruptcy on Monday. The website reported it was unclear how many employees were affected, but some were security guards and ushers.