NEW YORK -- Brandon McCarthys wife had more trouble slogging through Yankee Stadium traffic than he did against the Cincinnati Reds. Devonta Freeman . McCarthy earned his first win for New York with an impressive debut in pinstripes, and Brett Gardner drove in three runs from the leadoff spot to send the Yankees past the Reds 7-1 on Saturday. Told his wife, Amanda, tweeted several wisecracks about all the highway congestion that delayed her arrival at the ballpark, McCarthy could only smile. "If everybody isnt apprised of what shes doing every few minutes, God knows what would happen," he said. Carlos Beltran homered, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run single and the Yankees ended Alfredo Simons six-game winning streak in the right-handers first outing since the All-Star game. Derek Jeter had an RBI single, and New York won the first two in a three-game interleague series, leaving Cincinnati with five straight road losses. "I think this is kind of a blip in the radar, but we certainly need to turn things around if we want to get that game tomorrow," Reds manager Bryan Price said. Acquired from Arizona in a July 6 trade, McCarthy (1-0) struck out nine and walked none over six innings in his second start for New York and first at home. He said the Yankees have encouraged him to throw his cutter, a pitch he was instructed to scrap with the Diamondbacks. "Hes got top-of-the-rotation stuff, and were really glad to have him," catcher Brian McCann said. "He was doing whatever he wanted to on the mound today." McCarthy threw 71 of 99 pitches for strikes, improving to 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in his last four outings after winning only once in his initial 16 starts this season. "Actually, that was the frustrating part about the beginning part of the season is, I felt sharp," McCarthy said. "I felt like everything was where I wanted it to be, I just wasnt doing everything I needed to to get the best out of it. So I felt like Ive thrown better this year than any year in the past, its just the results havent followed." The right-hander was 3-10 with a 4.80 ERA for Arizona before New York obtained him to upgrade a rotation depleted by injuries to four starters. His first outing for the Yankees was a no-decision July 9 at Cleveland. "You realize that youre putting the pinstripes on for the first time, but I try and wash all that away as much as I can and just focus on execution, focus on my routine, what Im doing. All that stuff I can think about later," McCarthy said. "I mean, youre pitching for the Yankees, and thats an opportunity no matter what the circumstances are. For me, its at a point in my career where I want to be challenged. I really want to be in a pennant race. I wanted to be closer to the playoffs. I wanted to be in a market that is difficult. I wanted that kind of stuff to see if I could push myself to the next level, so its a great opportunity in that sense." A converted reliever, the surprising Simon (12-4) is tied for the big league lead in wins -- but he was betrayed Saturday by a Reds defence that entered with the highest fielding percentage and fewest errors in the majors. The right-hander allowed four runs -- two earned -- and five hits in five innings, the first time he failed to finish six innings since going 3 2-3 in a 6-3 loss at Dodger Stadium on May 27. He went 6-0 with a 2.47 ERA in his next eight starts. Chris Heisey homered for the Reds, struggling to mount much offence this weekend without injured boppers Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton finished for the Yankees, who struck out 13. It was the first time they whiffed that many without issuing a walk since July 7, 2006, at Tampa Bay. Cincinnati has struck out 23 times and walked once in the first two games of the series. "Weve got to pick it up a little bit," Todd Frazier said. "Thats not where we want to be." NOTES: Simon fell to 0-3 in seven games, including four starts, against the Yankees. ... McCarthy entered 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance against Cincinnati. He had a 6.89 ERA in three previous starts at Yankee Stadium. ... Before the game, Frazier and Reds President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty gave Jeter framed jerseys autographed by the clubs two captains, Dave Concepcion and Barry Larkin. Jeter also was presented with three photos taken June 3, 2003, the day he was named the 11th Yankees captain while the team was in Cincinnati. ... Looking to avoid a three-game sweep, Cincinnati sends another All-Star to the mound Sunday when RHP Johnny Cueto (10-6, 2.13 ERA) faces RHP Hiroki Kuroda (6-6, 4.10). Travian Robertson . Knight scored 30 points and Ramon Sessions added 22 to lead the Bucks to a 108-105 victory over the Lakers on Thursday to break an eight-game losing streak. The Bucks swept the season series for the first time since 2006-07, as Milwaukee beat Los Angeles 94-79 on Dec. Jonathan Massaquoi . With that command, 20,000 roaring Philadelphia 76ers fans gave AI the standing ovation he earned by stamping himself as one of the franchises all-time greats.COLUMBUS, Ohio - While Artem Anisimov has found another level of play, the Blue Jackets are still trying to find how to keep the pressure on as they chase a playoff spot. Anisimov scored twice, including a late insurance goal, as Columbus held off a third-period Dallas rally for a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars. "Right now might be as good as weve seen him play in a Columbus uniform," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said of Anisimov, who has scored five times in the last four games. "Two huge goals for us, especially the last one with the way the game was going." Columbus dug in for its third straight win to climb into a tie for seventh with the Rangers in the Eastern Conference. "Bobs (Sergei Bobrovsky) our last line of defence and its a great last line to have," Richards said. "But as a young team going forward and playing with leads, a 3-0 lead, thats where you want to continue to go after teams." The Blue Jackets are vying for only their second post-season appearance since joining the league in 2000. Columbus scored on the first shot of the game and bolted ahead on first-period goals by Boone Jenner, R.J. Umberger and Anisimov against backup Dan Ellis. Ellis was shaky early in making his first appearance since Feb. 1. "Its not easy," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said of his goalies long layoff. "I kind of felt for him. The first shot got by him and I think that maybe rattled him a little bit." At the other end, Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves, one on an open shot by Jamie Benn with 5 minutes left with the Blue Jackets clinging to a one-goal lead. Bobrovsky nimbly tracked loose pucks and shots from near the crease all game to improve to 5-0-1 against Dallas. Defencemen Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley had goals early in the third period for the Stars. With the loss, Dallas, which had won five of seven, still sits in eighth place in the Western Conference. Leading 3-0 entering the final period, Columbus seemed in control even though it had been drastically outshot since taking the big lead near the midpoint of the first. But the Stars finally broke through, scoring about two minutes apart. Goligoski fired home a rebound on the power play from near the crease, his fourth goal and second in as many games after a 48-game drought. Daley followed with his fifth on a redirection fromm between the circles off a soft point shot by Sergei Gonchar. Deion Sanders. . "Sometimes you are going to get hit with some adversity," Ruff said of his teams slow start. "We were knocking on the door and we had a couple of good opportunities." Dallas kept coming, but Anisimov all but ended it with his 18th at 15:53 on a backhander after circling toward the crease from behind the net with Goligoski on his back. "We wanted to start fast," Umberger said. "We were prepared for a fast game. They get up and down the ice pretty quick. The first period definitely was the reason we won tonight. Bob held the fort for us the rest of the game." The Blue Jackets benefited from one stick-handling flub after another by Dallas defensive corps in the first period. With a fill head of steam, Jenner sent a long snap shot from the left circle into the far corner above Ellis outstretched glove for his 11th. Then the miscues. Aaron Rome then swept the puck off Brandon Dubinskys stick in the slot to a streaking Umberger, who scored his 17th. Just over four minutes later, the Stars Jordie Benn cleared the puck into traffic to teammate Cody Eakin, who bobbled it back toward the net to Anisimov. The big centre turned and sent a backhander past Ellis to make it 3-0. "Hes just stepping up and making big plays," Umberger said of Anisimov. "You can see hes capable, hes confident right now. Hes strong on the puck." The Stars outshot Columbus 12-1 in the second period but didnt have many prime scoring chances other than two by Tyler Seguin on a power play that Bobrovsky smothered. "We had a good first and the second wasnt our strongest period," Jenner said. "c of regrouping, knowing we still had the lead. I thought we had good desperation in the third." Notes: The Stars traded injured D Stephane Robidas to the Ducks on Tuesday for a conditional fourth-round pick. ... Columbus played without injured defencemen Fedor Tyutin and Ryan Murray, both out with lower-body injuries. ... Dallas entered 16-5-3 against the Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena. ... Dallas C Rich Peverley did not play due to an upper-body injury. ... Stars LW Antoine Roussel become the fourth player from France to appear in at least 100 NHL games. ' ' '
