Abreu’s Seven RBIs Ignite Yankees, 12-4

Bobby Abreu finished off the Devil Rays in the first inning. Hideki Matsui kept getting applause all game.

Abreu hit a three-run homer and a three-run double in a nine-run first and finished with a career-high seven runs batted in Tuesday night, and the New York Yankees cruised to a 12-4 victory over Tampa Bay.

“It was crazy,” said Abreu, who went two for three with a third-inning sacrifice fly and fourth-inning fly out to the warning track, just missing a grand slam.

Matsui, returning from the broken left wrist that ended his consecutive games streak on May 11, went four for four with a walk, earning several standing ovations and tying his major league high for hits in a game. As fans rose before his first at-bat, he took off his helmet and waved to the crowd.

“When I got to the plate, I never even imagined I would receive such an ovation,” he said.

Derek Jeter batted in each of the first four innings without getting an official at-bat: He had three walks and was hit by a pitch. He didn’t bat again, and his career-high 21-game hitting streak remained intact under baseball’s rules.

Manager Joe Torre at first forgot about the streak when he pinch hit for Jeter in the seventh.

“I apologized,” Torre said before hearing that the streak was still alive. “He said, ‘I wasn’t going to catch him, anyway,’ ” a reference to Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game streak.