Wang wins No. 19; high-powered Yankees tee off on O's

NEW YORK (AP) -- This is what the New York Yankees have been waiting for: their modern-day version of Murderers' Row.

They put out their top batting order for the first time, each and every one an All-Star at some point, and Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano all homered in Wednesday night's 16-5 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.

Super Yankee Sophomores
Over the last 40 years, only three pitchers won 19 or more games for New York in their sophomore seasons:
	Year	W-L	ERA
Andy Pettitte	1996	21-8	3.87
Chien-Ming Wang	2006	19-6	3.63
Doc Medich	1974	19-15	3.60
For more Elias Says, click here

"It's a lineup that you dream of," Damon said.

Giambi and Posada each had four RBI as the Yankees romped to a 13-2 lead by the fourth inning. Gary Sheffield was 2-for-3 with his first extra-base hit since May, and appears to be regaining his form as New York prepares for its playoff opener Tuesday against Minnesota or Detroit.

Hideki Matsui was 2-for-2 with two walks, and the Yankees (96-62) moved one game ahead of the Tigers for the best record in baseball and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"The best lineup I've seen in my life," Baltimore catcher Ramon Hernandez said. "When the No. 2 hitter in the league is hitting ninth, that's telling you something."

That would be Cano, who went 1-for-3 and is batting .343, an average that trails only Minnesota's Joe Mauer (.350).

Matsui hit seventh and Posada eighth. Bernie Williams and Melky Cabrera began the night on the bench and each wound up getting a hit.

"Wow! I haven't seen a lineup like this," Damon said.

New York heads into the postseason with pitching questions -- Randy Johnson has been pushed behind Mike Mussina to start Game 3 because of his bad back -- but the Yankees' bats look mighty, with every starter getting a hit and scoring a run.

Sheffield and Matsui are back after missing most of the season with wrist injuries, joining Abreu, acquired in late July from Philadelphia.

"Hitting the ball hard is great, but you want the results," said Sheffield, batting .263 (5-for-19) since his return. "That way, you can get the confidence going. If I get the confidence going into playoffs, it will be perfect."

Giambi returned Wednesday following a six-game absence caused by a torn ligament in his left wrist. He got his third cortisone shot last week, played with the wrist wrapped tight and ended a streak of 65 homerless at-bats dating to Aug. 20

"I couldn't have planned it any better," he said after a 3-for-5 night. "I'm excited. I hit the ball hard and was able to drive the ball."

Chien-Ming Wang (19-6), selected by the Yankees to start next week's playoff opener, tied Minnesota's Johan Santana for the major league lead in wins, allowing four runs and 10 hits over six innings in his regular-season finale.

"Maybe I'll be a little bit nervous," he said in his usual just-above-whisper voice.

Yankees manager Joe Torre used a spring training approach, taking out most of his starters by the late innings, and he brought in closer Mariano Rivera to pitch the seventh.

"We can score some runs," Torre said, "but again, the pitcher has to cooperate. Good pitching always stops hitting."

Giambi erased a 1-0 deficit in the second inning with his 37th homer, a two-run drive down the right-field line off Kris Benson (11-12).

Abreu homered for the third straight day, a solo shot in the five-run third that included Posada's three-run drive. Damon homered leading off the five-run fourth, Cano connected for a two-run homer off Winston Abreu in the sixth and Derek Jeter nearly joined them in the seventh, when he doubled off the center-field wall.

Baltimore lost its fourth straight. Benson gave up eight runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start since May 24, when he lasted two innings at Seattle.

"I was just going into the game with F-minus stuff facing an A-plus team," Benson said. "There's definitely no breathing room with that lineup. From the first pitch in the bullpen, I knew it was going to be that kind of day."

Game notes
It was the most homers for the Yankees since they had six on July 20 last year at Texas. ... Baltimore's Kevin Millar had hits in five straight at-bats before striking out in the fourth. ... New York broke 4 million in attendance for the second straight season, joining Toronto (1991-92) as the only major league teams to draw 4 million twice. The crowd of 53,040 brought the Yankees' total to 4,032,228 with four games to go. They are on track to break the AL record of 4,090,696 they set last year. The major league record of 4,483,350 was set by Colorado at Denver's Mile High Stadium in 1993, the Rockies' first season. ... Yankees instructor Rob Thomson took over as New York's first-base coach from Tony Pena, who learned before the game that his father had died.