Freddy Garcia earned his first win as a member of the New York Yankees on Saturday as the Yankees topped the Texas Rangers 5-2 on a cold, rainy day in New York.
Garcia pitched well, pitching six innings without allowing a run. Garcia allowed just two hits and a walk and struck out just one batter.
The Yankees jumped out to an early lead when Mark Teixeira homered off of Derek Holland in the first inning, giving New York a 2-0 advantage. Teixeira would strike again in the third inning with a sacrifice fly, putting New York ahead 3-0.
The score would remain 3-0 until the eighth inning when Rafael Soriano entered the game for New York. Elvis Andrus delivered an RBI single to cut the score to 3-1 before Michael Young reached on an infield single, which scored Ian Kinsler, bringing the Rangers within a run. Soriano would escape the jam, getting Adrian Beltre to ground into a double play with runners on first and second.
Ron Washington elected to keep Holland in for the bottom half of the eighth inning, despite his pitch count being over 100. Holland would eventually serve up a two-run homer to Robinson Cano, giving New York a 5-2 lead.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth inning to earn his sixth save of the season.