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Recharged Yankees take on Rangers in series opener

Aug 4, 2008 - 1:33 PM NY Yankees (61-50) at Texas (58-54), 8:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- By salvaging a series split against baseball's top team, the New York Yankees now have their sights on building another long winning streak.

Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees begin a 10-game road trip with the first of four against the heavy-hitting Texas Rangers on Monday.

The Yankees received four hits and six RBI from Xavier Nady as they rallied from a pair of deficits Sunday afternoon to post a wild 14-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the prohibitive favorites to win the American League pennant.

It was an important win for the Yankees, who salvaged a split of their four-game series with the Angels. New York had lost five of six games before defeating Anaheim, 8-2, on Saturday.

New York would like nothing more than to match or surpass its season-high eight-game winning streak that ended earlier this month..

Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24 ERA) takes the mound for the Yankees with hopes of winning his third straight start. The 22-year-old has been impressive since making the transition from reliever to starter in June and is showing he possesses enough talent to translate into a major league ace.

Chamberlain has yet to surrender more than three runs in a start and is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in his last three outings.

Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52) will counter for Texas, looking to come out on top for the third consecutive decision. The righthander has thrown at least six innings in nine of his last 10 starts and is 6-3 over that span.

Padilla is supported by the majors' most prolific offense, as the Rangers rank first in runs scored with 631 this season.

Although All-Stars Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler were held hitless on Sunday, Gerald Laird belted two home runs and rookie Chris Davis added one to help the Rangers notch an 8-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.