NEW YORK (AP) — Miguel Tejada's two-out, two-run throwing error allowed Javier Vazquez to win a stellar matchup with Brian Matusz, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 Tuesday night.
Tejada, playing his first season at third base, fielded Alex Rodriguez's sharp grounder off reliever David Hernandez in the seventh inning, but his throw to first bounced in the dirt and Ty Wigginton couldn't stretch far enough to scoop it.
Vazquez's up-and-down return to New York took a swing back in the right direction.
He toyed with the Baltimore lineup, allowing a single to Adam Jones in the third before Corey Patterson stunned the crowd of 43,059 that included "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David and former Secretary of State Colin Powell with a liner into the second deck in right with two outs in the sixth.
Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save 12 chances. For the second out of the inning, Ty Wigginton grounded to first baseman Juan Miranda and ran down the first-base line, but when Miranda approached he backpedaled to avoid being tagged by Miranda, who after a pause trotted back to first to tag the base — getting laughs from the crowd.
Miranda was playing first base because Mark Teixeira left after the third inning with a bruised left foot. He fouled a ball off the foot. X-rays were negative and he is day to day.
Matusz (2-6) left after putting runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh. He had given up 13 runs in his last two starts and lost five decisions in a row, but gave up six hits and three runs — one earned. Matusz hasn't won in eight starts since April 18.
Curtis Granderson, batting eighth because he was hitting .235 against lefties coming in, homered to right-center in the fifth inning to give New York a 1-0 led. It was just the fourth extra-base hit by a lefty this season off the left-handed Matusz.
The Yankees put runners on first and third with no outs in the sixth after Rodriguez led off with a laser to right-center that not even Jones, in a full out dive, could catch, and Robinson Cano singled, but Matusz induced two infield popups and struck out Granderson looking on a pitch on the corner after jamming him inside with the previous pitch.
Matusz received help from his outfield. Patterson made a sliding catch of a sinking liner in left field in the third, and Gold Glover Jones made a long running catch in front of the wall in center field with a runner on first in the fourth.
In the seventh, the Orioles put runners on second and third on Nick Markakis's single and Luke Scott's double before Vazquez (4-5) walked Matt Wieters intentionally to load the bases. Batting just .223 with runners in scoring position coming in, the Orioles failed to score. Jones struck out and Julio Lugo grounded into a fielder's choice.
NOTES: Yankees C Jorge Posada (broken foot) said he was hoping to come off the DL. He hopes it will be Wednesday. ... Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (strained abdominal muscle), on the 60-day DL, will begin playing games at extended spring training on June 4 before going on a rehab assignment. ... OF Felix Pie (upper back strain), also on 60-day DL, will start a throwing program at the end of the week, his first baseball activities since landing on the DL April 16. ... Jeter's double in third was the 450th of his career, breaking a tie with Bernie Williams for most in Yankees history.
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