BALTIMORE, May 14 (UPI) — Mark Teixeira’s two-run homer in the seventh inning completed a rally Monday that boosted the New York Yankees to an 8-5 victory over Baltimore.

New York trailed 5-3 after five innings but tied it up in the sixth when Teixeira, who had walked, and Robinson Cano each scored after Orioles first baseman Chris Davis couldn’t handle a Raul Ibanez grounder.

Then in the seventh, Alex Rodriguez drew a lead-off walk from Luis Ayala (1-1) and one out later Teixeira bashed his two-run shot to right field.

Curtis Granderson also went deep and Nick Swisher added a two-run double for the Yankees, who pulled to within 1 1/2 games of Baltimore and Tampa Bay atop the American League East standings.

David Phelps (1-1) earned the victory and Rafael Soriano picked up his second save as New York took the first of a two-game set at Camden Yards.

J.J. Hardy drove in three with a two-run homer and RBI single for Baltimore.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Leave it to CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter, a couple of grizzled veterans, to give the New York Yankees an uplifting performance when they need it the most.

Jeter hit a two-run homer to break open a close game, Sabathia went eight innings for the third straight time, and the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Friday night. They snapped a three-game skid while also taking a bold first step after losing closer Mariano Rivera to injury.

”We lost three in a row. We didn’t finish up the homestand the way we wanted. We had to deal with what we had to deal with yesterday. I thought it was important that we bounce back,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. ”We cashed in four runs with two outs. It was outstanding.”

An encouraging night began with Rivera’s announcement that he plans to return from a torn ACL and meniscus damage in his right knee rather than retire, and it ended when David Robertson struck out the side in the ninth to give Sabathia (4-0) his fourth straight victory.

”CC steps up when we need it,” said Jeter, who singled and scored on Mark Teixeira’s homer in the first before delivering a two-run shot of his own during a four-run seventh inning.

”He likes to be out there,” Jeter said. ”He likes to finish games.”

Jeter’s homer off Bruce Chen (0-4) was his fifth of the season, a number he didn’t reach until Sept. 4 last season. He’s batting a robust .404 this year, though he brusquely dismissed any notion that he’s playing above his own expectations.

”They are very good hitters. Right now Jeter is very hot,” Chen said. ”I’m not saying he’s not a good hitter, but like right now, he’s on fire and hitting the ball well.”

The Yankees had reason to celebrate when Jeff Francoeur went down swinging for the final out.

Rivera told his teammates prior to the game that he plans to have surgery to repair a torn ACL and damaged meniscus in his right knee. The injury occurred Thursday night when baseball’s career saves leader was shagging fly balls near the warning track during batting practice.

”I’m coming back. Write it down in big letters,” Rivera said. ”I’m not going out like this.”

The news appeared to give the Yankees a lift, especially after dropping their third straight game Thursday night. Sabathia was sharp on the mound and the potent New York lineup finally let loose after struggling to put up runs for the better part of a week.

”It feels good. It always feels good,” Sabathia said, ”especially considering everything we’ve been through over the past day.”

Jeter’s leadoff single was his fifth hit in six at-bats in the series, and Teixeira made it hurt when he pounded a 1-1 pitch into the seats overlooking the Royals’ bullpen in left field.

Kansas City answered in the bottom half of the first. Alex Gordon followed a base hit by Jarrod Dyson with an RBI double, and Francoeur’s two-out double tied the game.

The Royals couldn’t have known that’s all the offense they would muster.

Sabathia retired 12 straight after a two-out double by Alcides Escobar in the second. Eric Hosmer broke up the streak with a two-out triple in the sixth that hit the wall just over Curtis Granderson’s head – about two feet shy of clearing the center-field fence.

Francoeur grounded out to end the inning.

Sabathia also left a runner on third in the seventh, when Mike Moustakas doubled leading off and Chris Getz delivered a base hit. Escobar grounded into a double play to end that inning.

Sabathia allowed seven hits and struck out five without issuing a walk.

”I sitting over there during the course of the game, trying to figure out a better left-hander in the game today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”I couldn’t come up with one.”

Chen matched him nearly inning-for-inning until the seventh.

Cano led off with a single, but all the real damage came with two outs. Eduardo Nunez hit a go-ahead triple into the right-field corner, and Chris Stewart followed with an RBI single.

Then the big blow from Jeter, a two-run shot over the center-field wall.

Robertson finished up the game in a non-save situation. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the right-hander would likely get the first chance to save games in place of Rivera, though he did not rule out former Rays closer Rafael Soriano also pitching the ninth.

”We wanted to give him a little experience in that sense, but he also hasn’t worked in three or four days, too,” Girardi said. ”You like to keep your relievers going, so we thought we would get him in there.”

Notes: The Yankees transferred RHP Michael Pineda to the 60-day DL and optioned RHP D.J. Mitchell to Triple-A. They recalled RHP Cody Eppley from the same squad and signed OF Dewayne Wise to a major league contract. … Yankees OF Nick Swisher (hamstring) took BP on the field before the game and plans to run bases Saturday. … Royals RHP Greg Holland (ribcage) will throw BP on Saturday and could leave for a rehab assignment Tuesday. … RHP Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound Saturday for New York. RHP Felipe Paulino will make his season debut for Kansas City.

The New York Yankees (5-4) clinched a 2-1 series victory over the Los Angeles Angels (3-6) at Yankee Stadium Sunday night, winning 11-5 before 41,055 in attendance. Designated hitter Raul Ibanez drove in three runs–two on a monstrous home run in the bottom of the seventh–and starter Ivan Nova (W, 2-0) (6.0 IP, 8H, 4R) did enough to extend his personal winning streak to 14, which is Major League Baseball‘s longest active streak.

Even though this season is merely nine games old, the importance of edging out Los Angeles in a best-of-three wasn’t lost on the Bombers–5-1 since their three-game sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays–and their postgame comments gleamed with confidence.

“[The Angels] have a really good lineup, there’s no doubt about it,” Nova told Yahoo! Contributor Network. “But every time that you have confidence that you can do it, I mean, it’s easy for you to do it. So it wasn’t that hard for me today.”

“I think everyone in here already knows the types of things this lineup is capable of doing,” said Nick Swisher, who drove in Robinson Cano with a single immediately before Ibanez homered. “I think it’s all about going out there and proving it.”

In Los Angeles‘ portion of the second, Mark Trumbo broke the ice, hitting a solo home run off Nova to left, but Ibanez answered with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning. New York then rallied for four runs in the third, making Angels right-hander Jerome Williams (L, 0-1) (2.2 IP, 5H, 5R) the latest casualty of its powerful offense.

After Derek Jeter’s three-run homer in the fourth gave the Yankees an 8-1 cushion, the Halos chipped away, closing within 8-5 on Albert Pujols’ RBI single in the seventh. Ibanez’s seventh-inning blast off veteran reliever Jason Isringhausen–which landed in Yankee Stadium‘s third tier (suite level)–highlighted a three-run rally that put the game away and capped New York’s season-high 11-run output.

The prodigious bomb was also Ibanez’s first homer at home as a Yankee.

“It definitely feels good, especially when you help the team win. That’s the most important thing,” Ibanez said. “[Hitting coach Kevin Long has] been huge; he’s there with the information, and he’s with you every day and he’s making minor adjustments here and there with you, so having a guy like Kevin Long has been tremendous.”

“On paper, we look pretty good, but then again you gotta go between the lines and make it happen,” Swisher said. “I think tonight was an explosion for us at the plate. It was great. Guys, one-through-nine, we feel that there’s not an easy out in the entire lineup. If we can continue to keep pounding, keep grounding out ABs, it’s going to be a very successful season for us.”

The Yankees, behind veteran Freddy Garcia (0-0, 5.79 ERA), will open a four-game set at home vs. former Yankee Carl Pavano (0-1, 5.93 ERA) and the Minnesota Twins (2-7) Monday night.