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Tuesday, Apr. 18 8:05pm ET
Jeter, Posada homer to back Hernandez | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Orlando Hernandez gave the New York Yankees' bullpen some much-needed relief. Hernandez, also known as "El Duque," pitched the Yankees' first complete game this season and New York won its seventh in a row, beating the Texas Rangers 6-3 Tuesday night." The Yankees matched their longest winning streak from last year. The string began last week with two victories over the Rangers. Hernandez (3-0) allowed just two runners in the final 5 1-3 innings. He gave up eight hits, beating Kenny Rogers (1-3) for the second time in a week. "He gets stronger. He just knows what he has got to do," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said. "He was not feeling good early and had a little funny face when I went out there. After that, he was nails and he competed." Posada and Derek Jeter both homered as the Yankees kept up their dominance over Texas. Jeter's homer came in a three-run first that pushed New York ahead to stay and eliminated any need for another miracle play. New York (10-3), off to its best start since 1988, has won 35 of the last 46 games over the Rangers, including sweeps in the last two postseasons. The Yankees won 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday night, benefiting from a bizarre double play after Texas loaded the bases with no outs in the 11th. Hernandez threw 84 of his 119 pitches for strikes. "He got behind a little bit early, but the good sign is he knows what it takes. It was a great effort," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "In the ninth inning, he was a little tired, but he knew what we were trying to do. It was not something where he had thrown too many pitches." New York got all of its runs off Rogers, who has lost two straight home starts after putting together a 19-game home winning streak that was the third-longest in major league history. "As eventful as last night was, tonight was one of those methodical nights with nothing much exciting happening," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "Kenny had a little stiff back, and couldn't get the ball down but he battled." Jeter's solo homer to center field got New York started. Later in the first, Tino Martinez had an RBI double and scored on Posada's single. Posada hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his third of the season. The Yankees added another run in the fourth when left fielder Gabe Kapler misplayed a ball. Rogers had extended his home streak with an opening-day victory over the Chicago White Sox. The former Yankee has since lost three straight games, including a 5-1 defeat at New York last Thursday. "I made some bad pitches. I was a little stiff and didn't have a lot to draw on," Rogers said. "Today, I was mediocre at best." Kapler hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his first since hitting home runs in his first two Ranger at-bats on opening day. Kapler doubled and scored the other Texas run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Tom Evans. Game notesA loud cheer erupted when plate umpire Eric Cooper signaled foul ball after New York's Alfonso Soriano hit a ball off himself in front of the plate. The mock cheer stemmed from that bizarre 11th-inning double play Monday that began when another umpire didn't see the ball hit Luis Alicea's leg. ... Martinez snapped a 3-for-18 slump with four straight hits, RBI singles in the ninth and 11th innings Monday, followed by an RBI double and a single in his first two at-bats Tuesday. ... Before his two hits, Kapler was 2-for-25 the previous seven games. ... It was Hernandez's first complete game since June 22. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard NY Yankees Clubhouse Texas Clubhouse RECAPS Tampa Bay 0 Baltimore 0
NY Yankees 6
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