Curtis Granderson homered and drove in four runs, Eduardo Nunez -- filling in for an injured Derek Jeter -- sparked a six-run second inning with an RBI single and the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 12-4 on Tuesday night.
Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher also connected in the Yankees' first game since Jeter was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time since 2003 because of a strained right calf.
Brett Gardner scored three of the four times he reached base, had an RBI single among three hits and stole his 100th base batting in Jeter's leadoff spot. Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run double for an efficient offense that scored 12 runs on 14 hits, two walks and a hit batter.
Granderson singled in two runs and Mark Teixeira had a two-run double in the second when New York batted around and knocked out Alexi Ogando, his second horrible outing in the Bronx.
CC Sabathia (8-4) pitched seven effective innings in helping the Yankees (5-2) secure the season series against the team that beat them in the AL championship series last October with two games remaining.
Ogando (7-1) was trying to match Tommy Hunter's club record for a starter of eight wins without a loss to begin a season, set in 2010. Mets rookie Dillon Gee is the only undefeated pitcher with at least seven wins remaining in the majors this year.
Instead, Ogando, a converted reliever, got just five outs in the shortest outing of his first season as a starter -- he had not gone less than six innings in any of his 12 previous starts.
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Rodriguez led off the second with a single and, after an out, Jorge Posada doubled and Swisher walked to load the bases. Nunez lined a single to left for the first run.
Jeter gestured with his hand toward Nunez at first base and smiled from the dugout, where he'll be watching until at least June 29. Injured in the fifth inning Monday night, Jeter remains six hits shy of 3,000.
Francisco Cervelli, playing for Russell Martin -- who has missed six of seven games with a stiff back -- struck out. Gardner followed with a checked-swing liner down the left-field line for an RBI single. It was the first of nine runs the Yankees scored with two outs.
Granderson hit his two-run single and Teixeira finished Ogando's night with a double that scored two to make it 6-0.
Ogando didn't fare much better in his start at Yankee Stadium on April 17, allowing five runs in 6 1-3 innings.
The right-hander has allowed 11 runs in eight innings against the Yankees and 14 runs in 75 innings when facing the rest of baseball.
Sabathia was perfect for the first three innings but the Rangers went 6 for 9 with four runs scored the second time through. He gave up eight hits and four runs overall. He struck out six without walking a batter.
Michael Young had a two-run single in the fourth. Craig Gentry and Elvis Andrus, back in the lineup after being pulled for a pinch-hitter Sunday for lackadaisical play, both had an RBI in the fifth.
Swisher homered in the third, Rodriguez hit a two-run double in the fourth, and Granderson and Cano connected in the sixth.
NOTES: The game was delayed 41 minutes at the start by rain. ... Yankees starter Phil Hughes (April 15, right shoulder inflammation) threw 49 pitches in three scoreless innings against minor leaguers in a camp game. His fastball reached 93 mph and averaged around 91. The right-hander said the plan is for him to throw 65 pitches Sunday for Class-A Staten Island. ... The Rangers were held to two hits Sunday by Minnesota. It was just the second time since the start of the 2009 season the team was held to two or fewer hits. The other was a one-hitter by Oakland on last Sept. 10. ... Granderson has six homers in seven games against Texas this year.
