NEW YORK, 24 May 2004 — Rod Barajas drove a fastball to deep left in the ninth inning to give the Texas Rangers a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Saturday.

Barajas tagged loser Tom Gordon (1-2) for his fourth homer of the season, sending his happy teammates on to the field for a round of high-fives at Arlington.

“It was a nationally televised game,” Barajas told reporters. “We wanted to prove something.”

The Rangers, who also beat the Yankees 9-7 Friday, are now 25-17, putting them a game up on New York. “We’re excited about the season,” Barajas added.

Texas scored twice in the eighth to set the stage for Barajas’ blast, Mark Teixeira’s bloop single plating the tying run.

Former Yankee Alfonso Soriano homered in his first at-bat to account for the other Texas run. It was one of only three hits surrendered by New York starter Jose Contreras.

New York went ahead by one run when Bernie Williams and Tony Clark homered off Texas starter Ryan Drese on consecutive pitches in the fifth.

The Yankees seized another run on Hideki Matsui’s single in the seventh.

Former Ranger Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-4 and struck out twice, which delighted the sell-out home crowd.

In Oakland, Bobby Crosby’s infield single in the 11th inning lifted the surging Athletics to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Eric Chavez prolonged the game for the A’s with a two-run homer in the ninth off Jeremy Affeldt. Justin Duchscherer (2-1) worked the 11th to seize the win.

In St. Petersburg, Jose Cruz Jr recorded a three-run homer in his first trip to the plate to spark the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 6-3 triumph over the Cleveland Indians.

Tampa (13-28) won its third straight game for the first time this season. Doug Waechter (2-4) scattered four hits over 6 1/3 innings for the victory.

In Minneapolis, Matthew LeCroy cracked a two-run homer for the Minnesota Twins in the first inning to set up a 9-1 rout of the Chicago White Sox.

Brad Radke (4-2) tossed seven innings of six-hit ball to earn the decision.

In Boston, Anastacio Martinez (1-0) picked up the victory, working an inning in relief of Pedro Martinez, as the Red Sox rallied to down the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2.

Mark Bellhorn, batting only .233, singled in the seventh to plate the deciding run.

In Seattle, Craig Monroe’s bases-clearing double highlighted a five-run eighth inning as the Detroit Tigers coasted past the Mariners 8-4.

Seattle has lost 11 of 13 games to slump to 14-28.

In Anaheim, Vladimir Guerrero’s fifth-inning homer with a man aboard propelled the host Angels to a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Kelvim Escobar (3-2) worked seven innings for the win. The loss went to Sidney Ponson (3-4), who went all the way for the O’s.