NEW YORK -- During the cold-weather meetings in which the Yankees entertained the possibility of dressing James Paxton in pinstripes, those who scouted the left-hander sold the appeal of an electric three-pitch arsenal that carried the potential to dominate lineups on a regular basis.

That version of Paxton has arrived, and as the Yankees aim for October, the timing could not be better. Continuing to snap his curveball with increased frequency, Paxton held the Rangers to one hit over seven scoreless innings in New York’s 10-1 victory on Tuesday evening at Yankee Stadium.

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“I feel like it’s better and better,” Paxton said. “I feel like I am going out there, taking it one game at a time and letting it rip. It’s nice to have these guys score 10 runs for me.”

Paxton equaled his season-high mark with 12 strikeouts, improving to 7-0 with a 2.98 ERA in his last seven starts dating to Aug. 2.

The first Yankee to win seven straight starts since Ivan Nova was victorious in eight straight 2011 outings, Paxton credits the resurgence of his curve for the recent success. After throwing it 13.6 percent of the time in his first 18 starts, Paxton’s curve usage has spiked to 24.7 percent in his last seven outings.

“It’s a long season, it’s a game of adjustments,” catcher Gary Sánchez said through a translator. “I think the last three or four outings he has been really, really good and he’s done great. He made adjustments when he had to and that’s what this game is about.”

On Tuesday, Texas struck out on all five at-bats ending with Paxton’s curve, a pitch against which opponents are batting .178 (16-for-90) this season. It has been even more effective over his last seven starts, during which opponents have managed just a .143 (5-for-35) batting average.

“It’s been a great pitch for me lately,” Paxton said. “It really slows guys down. I’m doing a good job of getting in the dirt when I want to get some swings and misses. It looks like my fastball coming out, so it’s a really good combo.”

Paxton was supported quickly by the first of Sanchez’s two homers, and the bats broke the game open with six runs in the sixth inning, as Didi Gregorius, Sanchez and Brett Gardner all went deep. Sanchez’s second homer was his 34th, a career high for him and a new single-season high for a Yankees catcher.

“For me, it’s an honor, understanding all the great catchers this organization has had over the years,” Sanchez said.

Six in the sixth

Gregorius has lamented a few false starts since his return to the lineup in June, still looking for the trademark hot streak during which he can carry the Bombers’ lineup. The shortstop hopes that he found something with a sixth-inning swing that produced a three-run homer off Ariel Jurado.

“I was hitting the ball hard, but I was hitting it on the ground,” Gregorius said. “I was trying to make contact a little bit more. I finally got one in the air, so that was pretty good. Hopefully I just keep that going.”

Sanchez followed Gregorius’ blast with an impressive drive to right-center field, clinching his 14th career multihomer game, and Gardner greeted reliever Jonathan Hernandez with a two-run blast. New York scored all six runs before recording an out.

“It's just the things that happen,” Gregorius said. “Everybody is ready to go. It's what we can do.”

History happened here

Activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday’s game, Edwin Encarnacion's seventh-inning homer secured the Yankees’ place as the first team in Major League history to boast 13 players with double digits in the home run column. The previous record of 12 was set by last year’s Yankees.

“Edwin can hit, man,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He knows he can hit. As long as he's been in the league, I think he has an understanding of other pitchers and what they're trying to do, but also what makes him tick and what makes him successful.”

The homer was Encarnacion’s 31st of the season and his 10th since being acquired from the Mariners in June.

“You come back, hit a homer and win the game. It’s great,” Encarnacion said.