Chavez's RBI single in eighth lifts Yanks

No A-Rod? No problem.

With Alex Rodriguez sidelined with oblique and lower back soreness Sunday night, the spotlight shone bright on his replacement. And in a pressure-packed eighth inning, Eric Chavez delivered.

Chavez, filling in at third base for Rodriguez, lined a tiebreaking RBI single up the middle in the Yankees' 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers at the Stadium.

The liner was hit so hard that reliever Arthur Rhodes fell backward on the mound as Mark Teixeira scored the go-ahead run from second base.

"I'm just trying not to do too much," said Chavez, whose 2-for-4 night bumped his average up to .467.

The veteran, who shouldered much of the responsibility in Oakland after Jason Giambi's departure after the 2001 season, is happy to contribute when needed instead of being the star. His big hit and three home runs by the Yankees helped overshadow CC Sabathia's struggles on the mound.

The lefty ace couldn't keep Adrian Beltre and Michael Young off the bases, picked up his first throwing error of the season and failed to record a win for the fourth straight start.

Beltre (home run, double) and Young (two doubles) each went 3-for-4, with Beltre driving in four runs and Young scoring two and driving in one.

"Every start I've had has been a battle," said Sabathia, whose ERA jumped from 1.45 to 2.52 after giving up four earned runs, eight hits and two walks in 61/3 innings. "The mistakes I made, [Beltre] didn't foul them off."

After Beltre hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Russell Martin's two-run homer tied the score at 3 in the fifth, and after Beltre doubled home a run in the top of the sixth, Curtis Granderson's two-run homer just inside the rightfield foul pole put the Yankees ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the inning.

But Young's ground-rule double off Joba Chamberlain with two outs in the seventh tied it before Chavez came through with the winning hit.

Sabathia was in line for the victory before Chamberlain failed to hold the lead. "I let him down. That's on me," Chamberlain said.

Rafael Soriano earned the victory with a scoreless eighth and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save as the Yankees moved to 9-5.

Robinson Cano brought the Yankees within 2-1 with a solo home run in the second inning off Rangers starter Alexi Ogando, who allowed all three home runs and five runs in 61/3 innings and did not get the decision. Rhodes, 41, who allowed a one-out walk to Teixeira and a two-out single by Nick Swisher in the eighth to set up Chavez's hit, took the loss.

The three home runs gave the Yankees 27 in 14 games.

With the Yankees' starting rotation in flux, thanks in large part to Phil Hughes' velocity issues and Ivan Nova's struggles, getting length from starting pitching is a must for the Yankees. But Joe Girardi said he doesn't want Sabathia to feel added pressure to go deep into ballgames.

"I don't want his thought process to change on what he usually does," Girardi said. "He knows his job is to get outs and pitch at a high level, just like any other starter's is. I don't want any added pressure on him that he has to go deep. The thing about CC is he usually doesn't throw a lot of pitches in the innings that he works, and that allows him to go deep. But by no means are we going to overwork him to save our bullpen."