Cano's two-run HR in 10th wins it after Yanks score four in ninth

LOS ANGELES - As if Joe Torre needed another reminder of how different ninth innings can be without Mariano Rivera.

Yes, he has Jonathan Broxton, who entered Sunday night's game with 16 saves and a 0.83 ERA. But there's only one Mo, as Torre said at the start of this series, and in the finale, the point was driven home powerfully.

The Yankees roughed up Broxton for four runs to tie it in the ninth, with three of the RBIs coming from unlikely sources, and then beat the Dodgers, 8-6, in the 10th on a big contribution from the likeliest of sources.

Robinson Cano hit a two-run shot off lefty George Sherrill, brought in to face him, for his team-best 15th homer. He had been 0-for-11 against Sherrill, who hadn't allowed a home run to the last 160 lefthanded batters he had faced.

"I didn't know until after I got back to the dugout," Cano said of his record against Sherrill. "I was looking for a ball to drive."

When the ball went over the wall in left-center, the Yankees' dugout erupted with players and coaches exchanging high-fives, similar to a reaction you'd see in the postseason.

"That was quite a miracle," said Alex Rodriguez, who hit a two-run shot, the 594th home run of his career, off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in the sixth to bring the Yankees within 5-2.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi described the game with one word: "Amazing."

Rivera (2-1), brought in after the Yankees tied it, pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth and retired three of four batters in the 10th to earn the victory.

Torre had said before the series that he didn't particularly want to face Rivera, because he knew what that would mean - that the Yankees were winning. Rivera wound up pitching to 10 batters in the series and striking out six, allowing only one to reach base.

That followed the final game against Arizona, in which he pitched out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the 10th inning to protect his own victory in another two-inning outing.

The 40-year-old Rivera earned his 17th save in 18 opportunities Friday night and lowered his ERA to 0.92 Sunday. He has allowed 12 hits and struck out 29 in 291/3 innings this season.

"I'm done talking about Mo; you can't say anything else," A-Rod said. "He's the greatest. He never seems to disappoint."

Rivera, understated as always, simply said: "That was a big win for us."

The Yankees fell behind 5-0 in the fourth inning before tying it against Broxton, who threw 48 pitches in the ninth.

Rodriguez singled with one out in the ninth and scored on Cano's double to make it 6-3. After Jorge Posada singled and Curtis Granderson walked to load the bases, Chad Huffman's single to right made it 6-5 and put runners at first and third.

Battling Broxton through a 10-pitch at-bat, Colin Curtis grounded a 3-and-2 pitch to James Loney, who stepped on first for the second out. He then fired home, but his throw was wide toward the first-base side, and by the time Russell Martin whirled to apply the tag on Granderson, it was too late.

The Yankees managed only four hits off Kershaw in the first seven innings but wound up with 11.

The Yankees are off Monday before starting a six-game homestand Tuesday night against the Mariners. They lead the Red Sox by two games and the Rays by three games in the AL East standings.

The early innings prompted thoughts of one of the least exciting drills to watch during spring training, one known best by its three-letter acronym: PFP. Pitchers' fielding practice. That's because Andy Pettitte's two throwing errors on sacrifice-bunt attempts resulted in three unearned runs in the third inning.

Pettitte, who came in 9-2 with a 2.48 ERA, had one of his worst starts of the season, but it wasn't that the Dodgers were hitting barrel shot after barrel shot. Instead, it was a failure to deal with small ball that did in the Yankees, Pettitte in particular.

The wild finish pushed the lefty's struggles to side-story status, but not for him, of course.

"I gave them three runs in that inning and that was hard to swallow for sure," Pettitte said. "I felt good, scuffled a little bit out of the windup with my mechanics a little bit. But other than that, I felt good. What can you say? What a great win for us. Great comeback. To be able to do what we did in that ninth inning against their closer, it was fun to watch. It was a big win for us."

The nightmare of a third inning started with No. 8 hitter Reed Johnson reaching out and slapping an outside pitch down the rightfield line for a double.

Kershaw bunted firmly back to the mound, and Pettitte quickly scooped up the ball. Rodriguez signaled for Pettitte to throw to first, but Pettitte thought he had a play at third and fired to A-Rod. An accurate throw likely would have had Johnson, but it sailed to A-Rod's left and skittered into foul ground, allowing Johnson to score and make it 1-0.

Furcal bunted for a hit, moving Kershaw to second. Ronnie Belliard made it three straight bunts as he looked to sacrifice the runners along, but that led to another fielding debacle.

He dropped his bunt to the third-base side of the mound. As Pettitte came up with the ball, he looked to third, which was empty because A-Rod also had come in on the bunt. Pettitte's throw to first - toward the dugout side and nearly into the runner - couldn't be handled by Cano as he covered first, which allowed Kershaw to score and put Furcal at third.

The official scorer originally charged the error to Cano but later changed his call and charged Pettitte with his second error of the inning. Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly to deep center brought in Furcal to make it 3-0.

"Guy's been throwing strikes all year long," Girardi said of Pettitte's miscues. "He didn't hit his spots."

The Dodgers made it 5-0 in the fourth. Johnson doubled for the second time, moved up on Kershaw's sacrifice bunt and scored on Furcal's sacrifice fly. Belliard followed with his second homer of the year.

Furcal's two-out RBI double off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth made it 6-2.

Brett Gardner was removed after being hit on the right forearm by Kershaw. The Yankees said he has a bruised forearm. X-rays were not deemed necessary and he is day-to-day. Girardi said Gardner will see Yankees doctors Monday. "If they order X-rays, then we'll get them," he said.

Eiland to return. Pitching coach Dave Eiland, on personal leave to handle a family issue since June 4, will return in time for tomorrow night's game against Seattle at Yankee Stadium. Said Girardi, "I anticipate he's back for good."