Knoblauch was 4-5, including a sixth inning home run that gave the Yankees a five-run lead. Knoblauch scored two runs, driving in three more, and swiped his American League-leading 10th stolen base of the season. The home run was his second in three games after going 51 games without one.

"It would be nice to do it any day, but it's a little extra special with Joe getting his 500th and Ted getting his first major league win. It was a fun day all the way around," said Knoblauch, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games. "Hopefully we can roll with this, keep it going and finish up the sweep tomorrow to head on to the road on a positive note."

New York gave Lilly a 4-0 lead with two runs in the third inning and another pair in the fourth. Lilly, who had not given up a hit through four, was shaky in the fifth, surrendering three runs, including a two-run blast by A's catcher Ramon Hernandez.

The Yankees added another run in the fifth on an RBI double by Tino Martinez, giving Lilly a two-run lead work with. Lilly would start the sixth, but Torre opted to bring in Ramiro Mendoza in with two outs to face Miguel Tejada.

Torre said he was impressed with Lilly's second start, saying that for now, he is the Yankees' fifth starter.

"He certainly has made a case for himself, and I look forward to his next start. Aside from the fifth inning, where it just looked like he was trying to get through it to get his first win, he took control out there," said Torre. "He's got good stuff. Right now for me, he's for real, because he not only can he get lefthanders out, he can get righties out too. To me, that's impressive."

Lilly (1-0) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on just two hits. He walked three and struck out six.

"It feels really good. It was a lot of work to go 5 2/3 today, but that's what it's all about. Going out there and doing whatever it takes," said Lilly. "I feel like I'm capable of being successful here. Now it's a matter of going out and continuing to give my team every chance to win every time I go out there."

Two of his strikeouts came against last year's AL MVP, Jason Giambi.

"He's a guy that I don't want to fall behind on him, so to get ahead of him is my best chance to get him out," said Lilly of the A's slugger.

New York hit Oakland starter Tim Hudson hard, knocking him around for seven runs on 12 hits in six innings.

"I didn't make quality pitches when I needed to. I made some pretty good pitches, but when I did, they somehow found a hole. My pitches need to be a little sharper," said Hudson, whose record fell to 2-3. "It seemed like with every hitter, I gave them at least one or two pitches to hit."

The Yankees had 14 hits on the day, with Knoblauch's four leading the way.

Paul O'Neill broke out of his hitting slump, collecting three singles in five at-bats to raise his average 16 points to .269. He also stole two bases.

"We got a couple of wins here, and we're just trying to get it going where we expect to win when we take the field," said O'Neill, who leads the Yankees in home runs, RBIs and runs scored. "It's been a tough homestand and hopefully we can finish with a win tomorrow."

Mariano Rivera, who recorded a five-out save on Friday, made things interesting in the ninth inning. He entered the game with a 7-4 lead, before Olmedo Saenz' two-run home run cut the lead to 7-6. Rivera retired Eric Chavez and Hernandez to preserve Torre's milestone victory.

"Believe me, 500 was the furthest thing from my mind in the ninth inning when the homer went over the fence," said Torre.

Alfonso Soriano went 1-4, and has now made 103 plate appearances this season without drawing a walk. When asked about Soriano's streak, Torre said that he has seen good hitters that don't walk, but not quite to this measure.

"He's probably going to get hit by a pitch and swing at it one of these days," joked Torre. "I can't even tell you that he's going to walk this year. I assume that he will at one time or another. I can't remember a player that's a free swinger like he is and he's batting .280. That's pretty good."

The Yankees are now 4-4 eight games into their nine-game homestand, and 13-11 overall. Roger Clemens will face Barry Zito as New York goes for the sweep. Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of Clemens' 20-strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners.

After the game, Torre reflected on what it meant to him to reach the 500-win mark.

"Five years ago at this time, we were just starting out with this regime, never thinking that five years down the road I'd be sitting here with 500 wins in a Yankee uniform," said Torre. "It's been a dream."