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Giambi, Pettitte help Yankees avoid sweep

Jun 22, 2008 - 10:14 PM By Zachary Braziller PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Once the thunderstorms subsided, the New York Yankees provided their own kind of power.

Jason Giambi hit a two-run double and Jorge Posada added an RBI double of his own during a sixth-inning rally as New York avoided a sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

Held to three runs in the first 23 innings of this three-game interleague series, the Yankees exploded for three in their first at-bat following a 56-minute delay to salvage the finale in front of 54,234 at Yankee Stadium.

"You don't really like rain delays, you like to stay in the flow, but it worked out well for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Andy Pettitte delivered six scoreless innings and Robinson Cano snapped New York's 15-inning scoreless streak with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

Pettitte (8-5) extended his shutout streak to 13 innings, allowing just four hits and striking our four, but was lifted after the break in action. Three Yankees relievers combined to allow four hits and one run in three innings of work, with Mariano Rivera collecting his 21st save after working the final 1 1/3 frames.

The Reds, on the other hand, weren't complaining about the weekend series.

"It is a good start," Cincinnati manager said of starting their road trip by taking two-of-three from New York. "We wanted this one badly but it's tough to sweep these guys."

Pettitte started particularly strong, retiring 10 of the first 11 batters he faced. He navigated out of his toughest jam in the fourth, striking out Joey Votto and Jay Bruce after sandwiching walks to Ken Griffey Jr. and Paul Yanish around a single by Brandon Phillips.

"I was able to make some good pitches when I need to get out of some tough situations," Pettitte said.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were doing little against young Reds starter Johnny Cueto. The 22-year-old righthander struck out five Yankees through the first four innings, stranding a runner in the first two frames.

In the fifth, Cincinnati ran themselves out of the inning. First, Norris Hopper ran into his own bunt, and David Ross was picked off.

The Yankees' offense finally came through in the bottom half against Cueto (5-8). Giambi started the rally with a single, Posada doubled down the left field line and Cano hit a sacrifice fly. New York could add no more, however, as Melky Cabrera struck out and Johnny Damon popped to shortstop.

"The guys they threw against us have shutdown pitches," Damon said. "They were pretty good against us."

With clouds engulfing the stadium and 25-mile-an-hour winds affecting play, Pettitte stranded two more Reds, striking out Votto to end the frame. The game was stopped thereafter, the skies opening up.

"It blew me off one time," Pettitte said.

After the rain delay, the Yankees finally strung together some hits, with six of their 11 coming in the sixth inning or after. In that frame, Giambi drove in Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui, who had both singled, with an opposite field double off lefthander Jeremy Affeldt. One batter later, Posada doubled home Giambi.

After knocking out 10 runs in the first two games of the series, Cincinnati did not get on the board in this one until the eighth, when Ken Griffey Jr. blasted career home run No. 601 off Kyle Farnsworth.

"He's been getting it all over," Baker said of Griffey's reception. "People around here appreciate greatness and he's had a great career."

Farnsworth had to leave the game directly with an unknown hand injury after when he attempted to field a chopping infield single by Phillips. He received three stitched to the webbing behind his pinky and index finger, and wasn't sure if he will be available Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

"It depends on how sore the finger is," Farnsworth said. "But I hope to go out there with it."