By Tim Britton / MLB.com NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira drove in three runs and A.J. Burnett submitted a quality start in the Yankees' fifth consecutive victory, a 4-3 win over the Athletics on Wednesday night. The Yankees jumped on Oakland early once again, scoring once in the first and three times in the second to build a 4-0 lead. Derek Jeter got the ball rolling with a leadoff single off Brett Anderson, just the shortstop's second hit in a span of 26 at-bats. He scored on Teixeira's RBI double later in the frame. The Bombers added three unearned runs in the second, exploiting an error on Anderson when he dropped a throw at first base on a Jeter grounder. Curtis Granderson scored from second on that play and, following a walk to Nick Swisher, Teixeira singled home two more runs with a seeing-eye grounder through the left side. That turned out to be enough for Burnett, who cruised early before running into some mid-inning trouble. He surrendered a two-run homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fourth and an RBI groundout to Coco Crisp in the fifth. Burnett was effective largely because he was better able to mix his pitches. It started with a fastball showing more life in the strike zone and command on the black. That opened the door for Burnett's trademark knuckle curve, which he threw more often for strikes. Burnett, in fact, generated eight swings and misses on his curveball -- the same number he registered in the entire month of August on the pitch. Burnett threw in a seldom-seen changeup for good measure, using it for a pair of punchouts. Burnett closed the night having allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out eight and walked two. In the eighth inning, pinch-hitter Jorge Posada was called out on strikes, then ejected by home-plate umpire Dana DeMuth.
