NEW YORK - Hideki Matsui broke out of a long slump with a go-ahead homer, and the New York Yankees trimmed their deficit in the AL East by beating the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 on Monday night.

Phil Hughes won his second consecutive start with help from a bullpen that escaped two bases-loaded jams. Alex Rodriguez matched his high for RBIs in a season and the Yankees moved within 3 1/2 games of first-place Boston with 12 to play.

That's their smallest deficit since before play on April 22, when the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of New York at Fenway Park. New York also increased its wild-card lead to 3 1/2 games over Detroit.

The Yankees took two of three in Boston last weekend to cap a 7-2 trip, then quickly got focused on Baltimore. No. 9 batter Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-run single, Robinson Cano had an RBI double, Jorge Posada got three hits and Bobby Abreu drove in two runs as New York waited out an inconsistent Daniel Cabrera (9-17).

Derek Jeter singled and doubled, passing Bernie Williams for fourth place on the club's career list with 2,337 hits. The Yankees (86-64) have won 10 of 12, improving to a season-best 22 games over .500.

Baltimore, which surprisingly leads the season series 8-5, has dropped 20 of 26 overall. The 6-foot-9 Cabrera fell to 0-5 in his past six starts and tied St. Louis' Kip Wells for the most losses in the majors.

Cabrera took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium last September before his buddy, Cano, broke it up with a one-out single.

Settling down after a shaky start, Hughes (4-3) was the one in control this time. He allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings, walking two.

The rookie right-hander retired his first two batters in the sixth, then loaded the bases on a double and two four-pitch walks. He was pulled with a 1-0 count on Melvin Mora, but Edwar Ramirez came on and struck out Mora.

The Orioles scored once in the seventh to cut it to 7-3 and loaded the bases again, chasing Ramirez. But Luis Vizcaino came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Kevin Millar, who kicked at the dirt in frustration.

Vizcaino worked a scoreless eighth. Kyle Farnsworth was charged with two runs in the ninth before Mariano Rivera fanned Mora with runners at second and third for his 29th save in 32 chances.

Hughes gave up three straight hits to start the game, including Nick Markakis' two-run double. Markakis finished with three RBIs and threw out two runners at second base from right field.

Cabrera hit consecutive batters with pitches in the second, loading the bases before a two-run single by Mientkiewicz tied it at 2. Mientkiewicz was thrown out by Markakis trying to stretch it into a double.

Back in the lineup after a night off Sunday at Boston, Matsui hit a solo shot in the third — his first homer in 123 at-bats since Aug. 8 at Toronto off Roy Halladay. Matsui began the day in a 5-for-43 (.116) skid.

Jason Giambi drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and lumbered home from first on Cano's double to left-center. Cano moved to third on Mientkiewicz's perfect sacrifice and Johnny Damon chopped an RBI single through a drawn-in infield to make it 5-2.

The first two Yankees batters in the sixth walked, and Abreu hit an RBI double off Jim Hoey. Damon scored with a rolling dive on Rodriguez's shallow sacrifice fly for a 7-2 cushion.

That tied Rodriguez's career high of 142 RBIs set in 2002 with Texas.

Jay Payton doubled off Ramirez in the seventh and scored on Tike Redman's single.

Notes:@ Bob Sheppard, the longtime public address announcer at Yankee Stadium, missed the game with laryngitis. He is expected back later this week. ... The Orioles have lost nine straight season series to New York, their longest stretch of futility against any opponent. The Yankees have won the season series 22 times in the past 24 years. The teams have five meetings left. ... Payton was ejected by plate umpire Jeff Kellogg after striking out on a checked swing to end the eighth. ... Markakis has 12 outfield assists. ... Mientkiewicz also walked twice and scored during a perfect night at the plate. ... Millar had three hits.