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Aug 26, 2009 7:34 am US/Central
Rangers Escape Wild 9th Inning To Hold Off Yankees
NEW YORK (AP) ―
Michael Young and the Texas Rangers chased Joba Chamberlain early, then hung on for a nail-biting win at noisy Yankee Stadium.
If this was a first-round playoff preview, there's plenty to get excited about.
Rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus turned Melky Cabrera's line drive into a game-ending double play, and Texas held off the New York Yankees 10-9 on Tuesday night in a game of momentum swings that took 3 hours, 50 minutes.
"We believe we can beat anybody, no doubt about that. But to put 10 runs on the board, you feel like you should win that game, and that's what was big for us," Rangers starter Kevin Millwood said.
Young and Nelson Cruz homered for the Rangers, who scored seven two-out runs off Chamberlain (8-4) to overcome an early four-run deficit. They took a 10-5 lead into the ninth inning before New York started storming back against Texas' bullpen.
Robinson Cano's two-run single cut it to 10-9 and left runners at first and second with nobody out. But with the crowd of 46,511 roaring, Nick Swisher popped up a foul bunt attempt for the first out and Cabrera hit a low liner that Andrus caught on the fly.
Pinch-runner Jerry Hairston Jr. tried to scramble back to second base, but Andrus beat him by a half-step for the final out.
"My first idea was to let the ball hit the ground," Andrus said. "Right there you just want two outs any way you can."
Andrus also drove in a career-best three runs from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. About an hour after the game, he turned 21 years old.
"I don't think I'm going to do (anything). I'm pretty tired tonight," Andrus said with a smile. "I'll probably just go and have dinner with my sister."
Josh Hamilton had four hits and Millwood (10-8) rebounded from a rocky start, exemplifying the gritty pitching that's put the surprising Rangers in contention for their first postseason berth since 1999.
Texas took the opener of a three-game series against the AL East leaders and remained 1 1/2 games behind Boston in the wild-card race.
Young, the reigning AL player of the week, also had three RBIs.
Posada and Cano homered for the Yankees, who still own the best record in the majors at 78-47 -- but their division lead over the Red Sox was trimmed to six games.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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