Teixeira leads Rangers to 14-2 rout of Yankees

May 10, 2007, 21:00 GMT

Bronx, NY - Mark Teixeira went 4-for-5 with three doubles and knocked in three runs, as the Texas Rangers crushed the New York Yankees, 14-2, in the final contest of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Brad Wilkerson added three RBI while Victor Diaz belted a pinch-hit grand slam for the Rangers, who defeated the Yankees for the first time in the last 10 meetings.

Brandon McCarthy (3-4) started for Texas and went 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits.

'When we get guys on base and we get things rolling, we are a tough team to beat,' said Teixeira. 'We need to keep our offense rolling because if we don't, it could be a long season.'

New York starter Chien-Ming Wang (1-3), who took a perfect game into the eighth inning of his last start, was roughed up for seven runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

'He [Wang] was okay, not as good as he can be,' said New York manager Joe Torre. 'He didn't have his best stuff, but he did pitch well enough to keep us in the game.'

Melky Cabrera hit his first home run of the season for the Yankees, who despite the loss, took two of three from the Rangers.

Texas took an early 1-0 lead in the first on Sammy Sosa's run-scoring single. Kenny Lofton led off the game with a walk and then stole second. A ground out by Wilkerson moved Lofton to third and he scored as Sosa poked a single to left.

Cabrera's home run tied things at 1-1 in the third.

Texas scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead for good. Gerald Laird started things with a triple off the wall in right. Lofton grounded out and Wilkerson hit a grounder to Alex Rodriguez as Laird got caught in a run down. After Jorge Posada failed to run Laird all the way back to third, Rodriguez chased Laird to home plate and instead of tossing the ball home, made a diving attempt to tag him out, but he was safe.

'That might have been the game changer,' said Teixeira of the run down play. 'That gave us a little bit of momentum and got things going for us.'

A base hit by Teixeira scored Wilkerson as Teixeria hustled to second on the throw home. Sosa then plated Teixeria with a single to right to make it 4-1.

With runners on first and second in the sixth and one out, Frank Francisco relieved McCarthy and got out of the jam, getting Hideki Matsui and Posada to fly out.

The Rangers added three more runs in the seventh to extend their lead to 7-1. Laird and Lofton hit back-to-back singles and a sac-fly by Wilkerson scored Laird. Teixeira then doubled home Lofton to give Texas a five-run cushion. Wang's day was then finished as Luis Vizcaino replaced him.

Vizcaino got Sosa to ground out, but Hank Blalock doubled off him to score Teixeira and make it 7-1.

The Yankees made it 7-2 in the home half of the seventh as Doug Mientkiewicz scored on Ian Kinsler's error on a grounder by Johnny Damon.

RBI singles by Jerry Hairston Jr. and Wilkerson made it 9-2 in the eighth. Later in the frame, a ground-rule double by Teixeira scored Hairston to give Texas an eight-run cushion, while a pinch-hit grand slam from Diaz blew things open and made it 14-2.

'They pretty much killed us,' said New York's Derek Jeter. 'Other than today though, we have been playing pretty good lately.'

Game Notes

Teixeira has an eight game hitting streak...Sosa finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored...Texas shortstop Michael Young missed his first game due to injury since 2005. He left Wednesday's game with tightness in his hamstring and was unable to play Thursday...Coming into Thursday's game, New York had taken 18 of the last 20 meetings between the teams.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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