Yankees’ five-run eighth inning stuns Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas - Call it the mystique, or talent, or simply just waking up, but the New York Yankees can look dormant for so long and suddenly erupt.

On a night when their ace was well below standard, the Yankees benefited from an eighth-inning meltdown by the Texas Rangers' bullpen to open their American League Championship Series with a 6-5 win Friday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

As poor as the Rangers' bullpen was, that's how strong the Yankee relievers were. Four of them pitched a total of five innings of shutout ball in helping the Yankees wipe out an early 5-0 Texas lead.

Mariano Rivera earned his 42d career postseason save with a scoreless ninth. Dustin Moseley got the win with two innings of shutout relief.

Game 2 is Saturday at 4:07 p.m.

"Our guys grind out their at-bats," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Trailing by 5-1 after seven innings, the Yankees finally got to Rangers starter C.J. Wilson. Brett Gardner opened the eighth with an infield single, a grounder to first baseman Jorge Cantu. Gardner beat Cantu's flip throw to Wilson with a headfirst slide.

"If I would have gone in standing up, I would have been out," Gardner said.

That infield hit became the turning point.

"You can't say enough about the at-bats Gardy had, and that was a huge play," said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who hit a two-run single later in the inning. "And, obviously, that started everything."

Derek Jeter made it 5-2 with an RBI double down the third-base line.

Veteran lefthander Darren Oliver replaced Wilson and walked Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira, loading the bases with nobody out.

Rodriguez then greeted reliever Darren O'Day with a bad-hop two-run single past Michael Young at third base, cutting Texas' lead to 5-4.

The Yankees tied the score on Robinson Cano's RBI single to center field off Clay Rapada.

Adding to the frustration was centerfielder Josh Hamilton's bobbling the ball for an error, allowing Rodriguez to reach third base.

In came the inning's fifth pitcher, Derek Holland, who promptly surrendered an RBI single to Marcus Thames that gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead.

"I broke my bat and battled them, and my bat died a hero," Thames said. "I'll take that any day."

Holland finally restored order by getting the next three batters out.

"It just didn't happen tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "That eighth inning just killed us out of the bullpen."

The bad karma extended into the bottom of the inning for the Rangers. After Ian Kinsler opened the eighth with a walk, he was frozen by Kerry Wood's pickoff move. It was officially called caught stealing.

Wood pitched a scoreless inning.

"I didn't feel sharp, but I'll take the result," he said.

Three batters into the game, Texas had taken a 3-0 lead when Hamilton lined a hanging 0-2 curveball to right field for a three-run home run.

Hamilton had been just 2 for 18 in the American League division series and he said entering the series that he expected to see a large number of off-speed pitches.

He saw one, but it was a looping fat curveball.

Yankees starter CC Sabathia hadn't pitched since earning the win in the Yankees' opening 6-4 win over Minnesota in the American League division series on Oct. 6, and he labored during a 36-pitch first inning, throwing 20 balls.

The Yankees had to feel fortunate to trail by just 3-0 after one inning. Sabathia allowed three hits and surrendered three walks.

The inning ended in bizarre fashion. With two outs, the bases loaded, and former Florida Marlin Cantu at the plate, Sabathia threw a pitch that tipped off catcher Jorge Posada's glove.

The ball bounced back quickly to Posada, who threw to Sabathia covering home. Sabathia tagged Nelson Cruz on the arm in a close play at the plate to end the inning.

"Well, that's the difference in thee game, maybe," Girardi said of the play at the plate. "It's a 6-6 game and maybe we're still playing right now."

Sabathia couldn't use the weather as an excuse. The game-time temperature was 80 degrees.

The Rangers threatened in the third when Hamilton reached third on a walk, stolen base, and a balk with one out. Hamilton, however was stranded when Sabathia got Cruz and Ian Kinsler on groundouts.

An inning later, the Rangers increased their lead to 5-0 when Young, who had 36 regular-season doubles, hit a two-out, two-run double.

Young also had struggled in the ALDS, going 3 for 20, although he hit a home run.

Sabathia has a mixed postseason resumé. He entered the game 6-4 with a 4.41 postseason ERA. He lasted just the four innings against Texas, allowing five runs (all earned) on six hits. He walked four and threw 93 pitches, 51 for strikes.

Joba Chamberlain replaced Sabathia to begin the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Wilson was effective, keeping the Yankees off balance by changing speed.

Wilson was cruising along with a 5-0 lead until Cano led off the seventh with a home run to right field that traveled 378 feet. That was the first home run that Wilson allowed to a left handed batter since June 3, 2008.

It was the start of yet another Yankees comeback, and extended their postseason winning streak over Texas to 10 games.