"It's nice to finally be on the other side," Carl Crawford said. "We've been in two of them [this season], and now it's nice to be on the winning side this time."
For his follow-up act, Garza will face arguably the deepest lineup in baseball -- one that seemed to get even deeper on Friday -- when he takes the mound against the Yankees on Saturday.
Just when the Bronx Bombers appeared filled to capacity with quality bats, they were close to adding five-time All-Star Lance Berkman from Houston. So far this season with the Astros, his 12th with Houston, Berkman was hitting a career-low .245 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs.
If his trade to the Yankees is finalized, the 34-year-old Berkman would get a chance to serve as a designated hitter for the first time in his career. It appears Berkman would be the team's primary DH, while filling in occasionally for Mark Teixeira at first base.
"We've used [the DH] to rotate our guys and try to keep our guys fresh," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "But if we have an everyday guy, we have an everyday guy,"
As Alex Rodriguez still seeks his elusive 600th career home run, he should be looking forward to facing Garza. In 18 career plate appearances against the righty, Rodriguez is batting .467 (7-for-15) with a home run and three RBIs. His lone home run against Garza was a solo shot on Sept. 3, 2006, when Garza was still with the Twins.
Yankees: Posada back behind plate
After missing Thursday's contest with a bothersome cyst behind his left knee, Jorge Posada returned to the Yankees' lineup on Friday. Posada, who has battled the cyst since 2006, started at catcher.
Rays: Zobrist remains questionable
B.J. Upton returned to the Rays' starting lineup on Friday after missing two games with a sore left ankle. Ben Zobrist, meanwhile, is questionable to play on Saturday or Sunday due to lower back stiffness.
Worth noting
The Yankees-Rays series was always an extra-special one for late Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner, who lived in Tampa, Fla.
"He would pop in every once in a while when we played here," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "Not so much recently, [but] it's still weird. It's not too long ago that he passed away."
Sat, 7/31 7:10 PM ET
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
Yanks create some breathing room in AL East
A game that had four homers -- but none from A-Rod -- swung in the Yanks' favor, as they connected on three of them. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher hit game-tying blasts, and Robinson Cano added the game-winner.
Yankees Beat
Photos
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .274 |
| Berkman, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .242 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .258 |
| Rodriguez, Al, 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .270 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .334 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .298 |
| Granderson, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .248 |
| Cervelli, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .256 |
| Gardner, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .296 |
| Totals | 32 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 5 | .271 |
| Tampa Bay | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaso, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 |
| Crawford, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .307 |
| Longoria, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .292 |
| Pena, C, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .212 |
| Brignac, 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .270 |
| Joyce, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .232 |
| Rodriguez, S, 2B-1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .259 |
| Upton, B, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .226 |
| Shoppach, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .195 |
| a-Aybar, W, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .259 |
| Bartlett, SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .239 |
| Totals | 32 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | .254 |
2B: Cano 2 (30, Garza, Garza), Jeter (20, Garza).
HR: Teixeira (21, 6th inning off Garza, 1 on, 1 out), Swisher (20, 7th inning off Garza, 0 on, 0 out), Cano (21, 9th inning off Soriano, R, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Jeter 2; Teixeira 4; Cano 8; Swisher 4.
RBI: Granderson (32), Teixeira 2 (74), Swisher (63), Cano (71).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cervelli; Swisher.
SF: Granderson.
Team RISP: 1-for-5.
Team LOB: 2.
FIELDING
DP: (Rodriguez, Al-Cano-Teixeira).
2B: Jaso 2 (10, Vazquez, Vazquez), Upton, B (24, Vazquez).
3B: Jaso (2, Vazquez).
HR: Joyce (5, 6th inning off Vazquez, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Jaso 7; Crawford 2; Joyce 4; Rodriguez, S; Upton, B 2; Aybar, W.
RBI: Longoria (68), Crawford (56), Bartlett (37), Joyce (18).
2-out RBI: Joyce.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Joyce; Crawford.
SAC: Shoppach.
SF: Longoria; Bartlett.
GIDP: Longoria.
Team RISP: 2-for-5.
Team LOB: 5.
BASERUNNING
SB: Crawford (38, 2nd base off Vazquez/Cervelli).
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vazquez | 6.1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4.61 |
| Logan | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.47 |
| Robertson(W, 2-3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.42 |
| Rivera, Ma(S, 22) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.93 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3.87 |
| Tampa Bay | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garza | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 4.11 |
| Benoit | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.72 |
| Soriano, R(L, 2-1) | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.94 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 3.63 |
Groundouts-flyouts: Vazquez 8-5, Logan 1-1, Robertson 1-0, Rivera, Ma 2-0, Garza 5-4, Benoit 1-0, Soriano, R 0-1.
Batters faced: Vazquez 27, Logan 2, Robertson 3, Rivera, Ma 4, Garza 27, Benoit 3, Soriano, R 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Logan 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Scott Barry. 1B: Bill Welke. 2B: Mike DiMuro. 3B: Tim Welke.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 2:58.
Att: 36,973.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
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