NEW YORK - Kevin Brown thought he might be nearing the end of his career.
He spent the first two months of the season battling his body, perplexed by his performance. Then he spent seven weeks on the disabled list because of back spasms and an intestinal parasite that weakened him.
"You just can't help but look over your shoulder and wonder," he said.
Brown hopes he got his answer Thursday, when he pitched his best game of the season.
In his second start since coming off the disabled list, Brown pitched four-hit ball over eight shutout innings to beat Oakland's Barry Zito. Newly signed John Olerud went 3-for-3 with a two-run double on his 36th birthday, leading the Yankees 5-1 over the Athletics.
"That's the Kevin Brown we knew was in there somewhere, and he knew was in there somewhere," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Brown struck out seven and walked two as he matched the longest outing by a Yankees starter this season. Always his biggest critic, Brown used the words pleased, happy and satisfied.
"I'm not 100 percent as far as strength and stamina," he said, "but I'm a heck of a lot better."
When he struggled, the right-hander, 39, at times wasn't sure how much he had left.
"I want to leave the game, I don't want the game to leave me," he said. "That's probably every player's wish, to go out playing well and not have something happen that takes the game away from you."
He became the 10th Yankees pitcher to pitch eight innings and the first in 19 starts since Jose Contreras beat Detroit on July 15. New York starters entered with a 5.06 ERA, 24th among the 30 major-league teams.
ANGELS 8, TWINS 3: Aaron Sele won his seventh straight decision and former Devil Ray Jose Guillen drove in three for visiting Anaheim.
Sele is 16-4 against Minnesota with a 3.36 ERA in 22 career starts. He matched his longest outing of the season, seven innings, and became the first pitcher in Angels history to start a season 7-0.
ROYALS 6, WHITE SOX 4: Matt Stairs homered twice and drove in four to back seven strong innings from rookie Zack Greinke for Kansas City.
Power outages in the Kansas City area delayed the game for 24 minutes when the lights went out at Kauffman Stadium. The teams were just about to start the ninth when the stadium lights brightened momentarily before suddenly going out in two-thirds of the stadium.
RANGERS 2, TIGERS 1: Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking homer, Ryan Drese pitched six strong innings and Texas completed a three-game sweep, its third on the road.
INDIANS 6, BLUE JAYS 3 (10): Grady Sizemore hit a two-run double in the 10th as visiting Cleveland won its second straight. Matt Lawton tied it at 3 with a homer off Toronto starter David Bush in the sixth.
