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Saltalamacchia, Davis lift Rangers over Yankees

May 27, 2009 - 6:41 AM By JAIME ARON AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas(AP) -- His slump stretched to 1 for 30, Texas slugger Chris Davis at least felt he was making progress.

Now he has something pretty cool to show for it: The first two-homer game of his career.

"I was so happy to have two hits, I didn't even care," Davis said after his pair of solo shots helped the Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees 7-3 Tuesday night.

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 AL East.

But Joba Chamberlain gave up two runs in the first inning, then allowed Davis' first homer leading off the fourth. Although New York tied it at 3 in the top of the sixth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia restored Texas' lead with a looping single in the bottom of the inning. Davis added an upper-deck homer in the eighth.

OK, so he also struck out twice, upping his majors-leading total to 68. But after a recent 0-for-25 drought, it's understandable that he's going to remember this game for the homers, which give him 12 for the season.

"The last few weeks have been about as tough as they could be so to have a night like tonight, it's very encouraging," Davis said. "I'm definitely going to take the two home runs away from this and try to build on it."

Jason Jennings (2-1) got two outs in the sixth for the win, and Frank Francisco finished up. Davis' second homer cost him a save opportunity.

Marlon Byrd had a two-run single in the first inning to get the Rangers going, then scored the go-ahead run after a double off Yankees reliever Alfredo Aceves (3-1).

The Yankees, who'd won 11 of 13, had a lot going for them - 13 hits, a season-high five stolen bases, plus more freebies via a wild pitch and a passed ball.

But they failed to take advantage, such as hitting into double plays to end the seventh and eighth innings.

"I thought we swung the bats pretty well but we couldn't get the big hit," manager Joe Girardi said.

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.

"Plain and simple, I was terrible," he said. "I've got to do a better job of keeping the team in the game."

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 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.

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.

Notes: As if the showers weren't enough, sprinklers went off on the grassy knoll beyond center field during the third inning. ... Derek Jeter was back at shortstop for the Yankees after serving as the DH on Monday. ... Expect Andruw Jones in the lineup against Yankees starter A.J. Burnett on Wednesday, especially since someone left a handwritten breakdown of "AJ vs. AJB" stats on manager Ron Washington's desk. "He says it's not his handwriting," Washington said, laughing.