Yankees 4, Athletics 2: Phil Hughes threw eight scoreless innings and Chris Stewart and Lyle Overbay belted solo home runs as host New York evened its series with Oakland.

Hughes (1-2) finally broke into the win column in his sixth start, scattering four hits and tying his season high with nine strikeouts as the Yankees improved to 7-2 on their 10-game homestand. Hughes retired the final 10 batters he faced in his longest outing since last July 1.

Athletics right-hander Bartolo Colon (3-1) failed to make it through six innings for the first time in six starts, giving up three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Stewart put New York ahead to stay leading off the third, turning on an inside fastball from Colon and lining it down the left-field line and into the seats for his second homer. Overbay delivered a more majestic blast in the fifth, reaching the second deck in right for his fifth homer.

The Yankees added a pair of key insurance runs on RBI singles by Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner for a 4-0 lead through seven innings before Oakland scratched out a pair of runs in the ninth off Shawn Kelley and closer Mariano Rivera.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Yankees 2B Robinson Cano's double in the sixth inning gave him 344 for his career, tying him with Mickey Mantle for eighth place on the all-time franchise list. ... Athletics OF Seth Smith, who became the first player in franchise history to strike out four times in consecutive games Wednesday and Friday, finished 2-for-4 with an RBI on Saturday. ... Oakland placed OF Chris Young (quadriceps) on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 30 and called up OF Michael Taylor from Triple-A Sacramento.