The start was held up 2 hours, 24 minutes because of rain. Due to the delay, the Yankees knew that Boston had lost, which meant a win would’ve tied them with the Red Sox for first place in the American League East. But New York fell behind 3-0 and never led - despite stealing a season-high five bases off Saltalamacchia and getting two more free bases on a passed ball and a wild pitch from Texas starter Kevin Millwood.
The Yankees, who had won 11 of their last 13, tied it at 3 in the sixth on back-to-back RBI hits from Hideki Matsui and Francisco Cervelli. But in the bottom half, Marlon Byrd doubled off reliever Alfredo Aceves (3-1) and scored on Saltalamacchia’s looping single to right. Byrd also had a two-run single in the first inning.
Jason Jennings (2-1) got two outs in the sixth for the win, and Frank Francisco finished up.
Former Ranger Mark Teixeira homered for New York, and center fielder Melky Cabrera left with a shoulder injury.
The first pitch was delayed because of an approaching storm that didn’t arrive until nearly an hour later. Once it did, it dropped buckets of rain and enough golf ball-sized hail to make the outfield look like a crowded driving range. More rain fell in the first inning and there were flashes of lightning throughout the night, but most of the crowd of 33,397 fans waited out the delay. About half were still around for the final out - at 12:38 a.m.
As a thank you to fans for staying through the rain delay, the team announced that tickets from this game can be traded in for seats at certain other games later this season.
Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain threw a lot of pitches in the first inning and wound up going only four. He allowed three runs and four hits, with four walks and five strikeouts.
Cabrera ran hard into the wall chasing Ian Kinsler’s leadoff triple in the first inning and left with a strained right shoulder. His replacement, Brett Gardner, had three hits and scored a run. He also had three of the steals against Saltalamacchia, who’d thrown out eight of 20 this season.
All other Yankees starters got a hit, except for Nick Swisher, who walked twice.
Teixeira homered in the fifth. Alex Rodriguez - the other former Rangers star now in New York’s lineup - had one hit and a walk. A-Rod was 5-for-5 the previous day, in his first game against Texas since admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during his time here.
