Yankees 12, Rangers 5: Derek Jeter Homers Twice

So, anybody want to talk about Derek Jeter's inability to drive the ball today? Jeter smashed his first two home runs of the season Sunday and compiled four hits in all to power the New York Yankees to a 12-5 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Jeter finished 4-for-6 with three RBI, raising his batting average from .256 to .276. The Yankee shortstop, who came into the game with just three extra-base hits, homered in the fifth inning off starter Dave Bush and in the seventh inning off reliever Arthur Rhodes. The seventh-inning shot gave the Yankees their first lead, 5-4, and was followed by Curtis Granderson's league-leading 11th home run.

The Yankees put the game away with a six-run eighth inning, highlighted by a grand-slam home run by backup catcher Francisco Cervelli off Texas reliever Cody Eppley. Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer later in the inning.

Texas jumped to a 4-0 lead after two innings against Yankee ace CC Sabathia, but Sabathia settled down and the Yankees' bats roared back. Sabathia (3-2) ended up going six innings to earn the victory.

The Yankees are off on Monday before hosting the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

Yankees At Tigers: Sabathia Tries To Keep Yankees In First

The red-hot Tampa Bay Rays have caught the New York Yankees in the American League East standings, with the Yankees now only a few percentage points ahead of the Rays for first place. The Yankees have ace CC Sabathia on the mound today as they try to protect their hold on the division's top spot.

Obviously, being in first place in the second week of May is not that big of a deal. Certainly, though, the Yankees would rather not see the Rays pass them in the standings.

The Yankees scored five runs in Saturday night's loss to Texas, but they are still waiting for some offensive consistency. There were positive signs Saturday, though. Derek Jeter got two hits, including a long double off the left-field wall and the scuffling Nick Swisher blasted a home run.

Dave Bush will make a spot start today for Texas in place of originally scheduled starter Alexi Ogando, scratched with a blister on his pitching hand.

Rangers 7, Yankees 5: Michael Young Leads Texas

Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - Michael Young opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning and capped it with an RBI single in the sixth, as the Texas Rangers edged the New York Yankees, 7-5.

Young finished 4-for-4 for the Rangers, who dropped the opener of this three- game series, 4-1, on Friday. Texas won for just the third time in its last 10 games.

Julio Borbon drove in three Texas runs, while Mitch Moreland collected three hits and scored twice.

Rangers starter Derek Holland gave up four runs on four hits and walked five in three-plus innings. Brett Tomko followed Holland and yielded one hit -- a solo home run by Nick Swisher -- over 2 1/3 frames. Arthur Rhodes (1-1) recorded the final two outs in the sixth to earn the win.

Robinson Cano hit a three-run triple for New York, which has lost four of five.

"We're not getting a whole lot of hits on this trip," said New York manager Joe Girardi. "We had five runs tonight and most nights that's going to be enough to win, but tonight it wasn't."

Despite the loss, Derek Jeter set a major league record for the most games played at shortstop for one team on Saturday. Jeter played in his 2,303rd game at shortstop, passing Baltimore's Cal Ripken.

Bartolo Colon was tagged for five runs on nine hits in a 4 1/3-inning start for the Yankees. Boone Logan (1-2) surrendered two runs in one inning of relief to absorb the loss.

Young homered with two gone in the first inning, then David Murphy went deep to begin a four-run second by the Rangers.

Moreland hit a one-out single and Chris Davis walked before both runners scored on a triple by Borbon. Ian Kinsler followed with a sacrifice fly for a 5-0 Texas lead.

The Yankees countered with four runs in their next at-bat. All the damage occurred after Russell Martin grounded into a double play.

Jeter doubled, Curtis Granderson walked and Mark Teixeira singled home a run. After Alex Rodriguez walked to load the bases, Cano trimmed the deficit to one run by sending Holland's next pitch to the gap in left-center for a triple.

New York tied the game on Swisher's lead off home run in the sixth, but the Rangers quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the inning.

With men on the corners, Borbon dropped a squeeze bunt to score Moreland, who led off with a double and advanced to third on a Davis single, with the go- ahead run. Young delivered a two-out RBI single later in the frame to put Texas up 7-5.

Darren Oliver replaced Rhodes and tossed two scoreless innings before a returning Neftali Feliz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save of the season. Feliz was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. He hadn't pitched since April 20 because of right shoulder inflammation.

Yankees At Rangers: Resurgent Colon Pitching For New York

Bartolo Colon, surprisingly effective this season with a 2-1 record and an ERA of 3.00, makes his fourth start for the New York Yankees tonight in Arlington against the Texas Rangers. The Yankees defeated the Rangers, 4-1, Friday in the opening game of a three-game series.

Thanks to the efforts of Colon and his fellow hurlers, the Yankees are fifth in the AL in team ERA with a mark of 3.60 through 30 games, yet this is a group that is also just one of two (Toronto) that has yet to log a shutout.

From an offensive perspective, the Yankees are far and away the leaders in home runs in the majors with a total of 48, 10 more than Arizona, Cincinnati and Texas, which are all tied for second on the list. After last night's performance, Granderson now leads the AL in home runs with 10.

Left-hander Derek Holland (3-1, 4.66) pitches Saturday night for Texas.

-- Sports Network contributed to this report

Bartolo Colon

#40 / Pitcher / New York Yankees

Height: 5-11

Weight: 265

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 24, 1973

Yankees 4, Rangers 1: Nova Brilliant As Yankees Win

Maybe Ivan Nova will turn out to be more than just a 'placeholder' in the New York Yankees' pitching rotation after all. Nova pitched 7.1 innings of two-hit baseball Friday, the longest outing of his major-league career, as the Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers, 4-1.

Nova (3-2) surrendered only an unearned run in the eighth inning. Rafael Soriano got the final two outs in the eighth inning and Mariano Rivera finished for his 12th save.

The Yankees had lost three straight games prior to starting the series against the Rangers, and have been struggling offensively. Curtis Granderson provided all the offense Nova, 24, needed Friday with a pair of home runs and three RBI. The Yankees held a 3-0 lead after just two innings, and Nova held on from there.

The Yankees and Rangers play again Saturday night (8:05 p.m.). New York will send veteran Bartolo Colon (2-1) to the mound, while Texas will pitch Derek Holland (3-1).

New York Yankees At Texas Rangers: New York Hopes Bats Wake Up

The New York Yankees shuffle into Texas tonight for a three-game series fresh off losing their last three games to the previously struggling Detroit Tigers. Maybe it's appropriate that the weekend series will encompass Mother's Day, because the way the Yankees played the past few days they are definitely in need of a hug.

The Yankees are 17-12, still in first place in the American League East by one game over Tampa Bay. New York is just 5-5 in its last 10 games, and the Yankees offense has sometimes been non-existent. In their last 11 games the Yankees had one 12-run outburst against the Chicago White. Other than that, the best they have done is score five runs. They have been shut out twice during that stretch.

Derek Jeter is hitting a weak .250, and his struggles have been well-documented. He is hardly the only Yankee struggling at the plate, though. Alex Rodriguez has not homered in his last 10 games. Nick Swisher is hitting just 214. Mark Teixeira has only eight RBI since April 7. Jorge Posada is still hitting just .154.

General Manager Brian Cashman is exactly right when he says the Yankees are "not firing on all cylinders."

The Yankees have had pitching issues, too. Phil Hughes is on the disabled list with a still undetermined arm issue and won't be back for at least six to eight weeks. Rafael Soriano is an adventure in the eighth inning at this point. The Yankees are getting by with a starting rotation that includes Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Friday night's starter, Ivan Nova.

The most amazing this about all of this is that the Yankees still lead the American League East. Somehow.

The Rangers are just 3-7 in their last 10 games, one game behind Anaheim in the American League West. We will see which one of these two scuffling teams can pull itself together this weekend.