Pettitte settles down, Tex homers as Yankees win, 5-2

It can't really be this simple for the Yankees, can it?

Their 5-2 win Sunday completed a three-game sweep of the Rangers and a 5-1 season-opening homestand.

They take a 9-3 record out to Oakland, the start of a nine-game road trip that could have plenty of pitfalls. But for now, it seems as if the defending champions are doing what they want.

"We know it's going to come," said Andy Pettitte (2-0), who allowed four hits and three walks in eight innings. "We can feel good about what we've done now, but we're going to struggle. We know it. It is good to start off on the right foot and be playing well."

Pettitte felt some of those struggles, saying he was "in survival mode" for the first four innings. He did get battered around in the third, allowing a run-scoring double by Elvis Andrus and an RBI single by Michael Young as the Rangers took a 2-1 lead, but Mark Teixeira snared Josh Hamilton's liner and Vladimir Guerrero popped to Teixeira to end the inning.

Then Teixeira launched his first home run of the season in his 41st at-bat, a towering drive to rightfield reminiscent of many of his shots from last year. Ramiro Peña, starting at shortstop for the under-the-weather Derek Jeter, delivered a two-out, two-run single off Rich Harden (0-1) to put the Yankees ahead 4-2.

Pettitte found his rhythm after getting the lead back, allowing no hits and two walks in his last four innings. "In the beginning, he just couldn't get loose," said Jorge Posada, who hit his third homer in the seventh. "When he did, he was hitting more of the corners. He turned it around."

Pettitte pitched eight innings once in 2009. His 1.35 ERA is his best through three starts in his 16-year career, and the Yankees' starters combined to go 5-1 with a 2.17 ERA on the homestand.

"It is like, 'Everything's going your way right now,' " Joe Girardi said. "You'll go through some adversity, but I'm very happy with what we've done."

The work of Peña and Brett Gardner, who reached base four times, stole two bases (he was caught stealing on a pickoff attempt in the eighth) and scored a run subbing for Jeter as the leadoff hitter, was particularly rewarding.

Peña, who hit .287 in spot duty last season, knows his opportunities are few and far between. After Nick Swisher struck out with the bases loaded for the second out in the third, Peña's line drive barely cleared the head of first baseman Ryan Garko, but it had a big impact. He is 4-for-5 with the bases loaded in his career.

"I don't try to think too much," he said of his sparse playing time backing up Alex Rodriguez, Jeter and Robinson Cano. "I just enjoy being a part of this team and just try to help the team."

There's more: The Yankees haven't committed an error in 10 straight games, and Teixeira made two dazzling plays with men on base Sunday.

And even more: Mariano Rivera breezed through the ninth inning, catching Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis looking for his fifth save in five chances.

About the only worries are Teixeira still hitting only .114, Nick Johnson (0-for-4) at .158, Swisher (0-for-4) down to .200 and the prospect of Javier Vazquez taking the mound Tuesday night night in Oakland.

But there have been many, many more April worries around here the last few seasons. This is a team that seems to know what it's capable of and how it stacks up against fairly inferior competition.

"We knew it would be a tough opening month for us, and now we're going out west," Pettitte said. "We just have to keep playing good ball."