Yanks match biggest comeback in franchise history

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees were down nine runs in the second inning without three big boppers.

Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter never stopped playing.

Largest Yankee comebacks

In Tuesday night's 14-13 victory over Texas, the Yankees rallied from nine runs down to get the win. The nine-run deficit matched the largest comeback in team history. Here are the four nine-run comebacks in Yankee history. May 16, 2006 -- Texas at New York, Yankees trailed 9-0; won 14-13. June 26, 1987 -- Boston at New York, Yankees trailed 9-0; won 12-11. July 25, 1953 -- New York at Detroit, Yankees trailed 10-1; won 15-11. April 18, 1950 -- New York at Boston, Yankees trailed 9-0; won 15-10. -- The Associated Press

Posada hit a game-winning, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth after withstanding a violent collision at the plate, and Jeter helped drive New York to a 14-13 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night -- matching the biggest comeback in Yankees history.

"It's hard to beat that one," manager Joe Torre said.

Jeter went 4-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and three runs. He also threw out a runner at the plate and stole third base.

Posada knocked in five runs and dusted himself off after getting bowled over by Mark Teixeira in the sixth.

"Right now, I feel great. Back then, I didn't feel too good about it," Posada said. "It's the hardest I've ever got hit. I know if I drop the ball, he would be safe. But he was not going to get the plate. I had it blocked. I never played football in my life, but that's what I think it feels like."

Mariano Rivera (1-2) got the win after giving up a go-ahead double to Rod Barajas in the top of the ninth.

Short Hops
There were so many amazing storylines from this game, that they're almost impossible to count. The most important is that the win kept the Yankees within a game of the Red Sox for first place in the AL East. It's never too early to scoreboard watch the way this race is going. To read more of Short Hops from Tuesday, click here.

Posada connected in the bottom half off Akinori Otsuka (0-1) after Johnny Damon reached on a bad-hop single to start the inning. Otsuka had not allowed a home run since Arizona's Craig Counsell took him deep on May 24, 2005.

"It had everything," Teixeira said. "It had a lot of runs. It had good pitching, at times. It had defense. It had balls caroming off runners."

The Yankees overcame a nine-run deficit for the fourth time in their storied history. The last time was a 12-11 win in 10 innings against the rival Red Sox on June 26, 1987. Boston's starting pitcher in that one was Roger Clemens.

It was the largest lead Texas has squandered in its 35-year history.

"To be honest, I always thought we had a chance," Jeter said. "You try to get one back at a time. You can't get them all at once, and that's what we did."

Hank Blalock homered and drove in four runs for the AL-West leading Rangers, who roughed up Shawn Chacon in building their big cushion. Teixeira had four hits and three RBI, but his hardest hit was on Posada at the plate.

With Texas up 10-5 in the sixth, Teixeira was on first when Blalock doubled into the left-field corner. Posada went to his knees for Jeter's two-hop relay throw and was knocked backward by the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Teixeira, who lowered his shoulder and delivered a heavy blow.

Posada and his mask went flying back into plate umpire Chris Guccione. But the All-Star catcher, who often appears to shy away from blocking the plate after getting injured on a collision in the minors, held onto the ball for the third out.

"He looked a little dazed, but he kept answering the questions right," Torre said.

Trailing 9-0 in the second, the Yankees started to chip away and the crowd of 40,757 began to sense that another stirring comeback was brewing in the Bronx. Fans chanted "Jeter! Jeter!" after the captain's three-run homer cut the margin to 10-8.

But this rally was particularly improbable. Missing injured sluggers Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, New York went ahead 11-10 when Miguel Cairo hit a two-out, two-run single against Joaquin Benoit to cap a six-run sixth.

Jeter homered off Scott Feldman earlier in the inning, and Bernie Williams had an RBI double.

"Even with the guys they have out, this team can still score a lot of runs," Teixeira said.

Wilkerson hit a two-run shot off Scott Proctor in the seventh, putting the Rangers back in front 12-11. Jeter's bunt single set up Posada's tying sacrifice fly in the bottom half.

The Rangers scored twice in the first and broke loose for seven runs in the second, highlighted by Michael Young's two-run single, Teixeira's two-run double and a three-run homer by Blalock on reliever Aaron Small's second pitch.

Chacon was chased after getting only four outs, his shortest start since Aug. 16, 2003, with Colorado against the Mets in New York when he gave up eight runs in 1 1-3 innings.

This time, the right-hander yielded a season-high eight runs -- seven earned -- and six hits before being booed off the mound.

Handed a 9-0 lead in the second, John Koronka failed to last five innings for Texas. Cairo began the comeback with an RBI single in the second. Jeter hit a run-scoring double in the third, and Posada's RBI single cut it to 10-3.

Posada had a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Robinson Cano added an RBI groundout.

"They lost the momentum and we were able to get it back," Torre said. "It was just a great game for us. It was a big lift to let us know what we're capable of."

Game notes
Batting cleanup for the first time since Oct. 2, 2004, Posada hit his second game-ending homer. The other came on May 5, 2000, against Baltimore. ... With his 1,210th RBI, Williams passed Hall of Famer Bill Dickey for sixth on the Yankees' career list. Williams' 424th double tied Babe Ruth for third place. ... Damon scored four times. ... Teixeira matched his career high for hits. ... Rookie LF Melky Cabrera had two assists for the Yankees.