NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguezs record-breaking grand slam was a big one for the Yankees, who can only hope it came in time for a last-gasp run at the playoffs.
[b]Authentic Jim Kelly Jersey[/b] . Rodriguez set a major league mark with his 24th career slam, passing Lou Gehrig with a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning that sent New York to a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. "It means Im getting old," said Rodriguez, 38. "Its hard to think about things like that right now. Were really on a sprint to the end here and every win is huge for us." A-Rods drive helped CC Sabathia (14-13) beat Tim Lincecum in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners having subpar seasons. More importantly for the Yankees, it carried them to their second win in seven games as they cling to faint playoff hopes. New York, which has eight games remaining, pulled within three of the second AL wild card -- with three other teams in between. The Indians 2-1 rain-shortened win over Houston, moved them a half-game ahead of Texas, which began the day tied with Tampa Bay atop the standings but lost 2-1 to Kansas City. The Rays beat Baltimore in 18 innings to keep the lead. "Its an unbelievable accomplishment and its a big one for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I dont know if we can afford to lose any more games." Alfonso Soriano also homered and New York opened its final homestand with a much-needed victory, hours after pitcher Andy Pettitte announced his plans to retire -- again -- following this season. The news about Pettitte hardly came as a surprise, but the 41-year-old lefty put to rest any speculation he might be back next season. Pettitte, who stepped off the mound for a year before returning in 2012, is scheduled to start the series finale Sunday -- the same day the Yankees will honour retiring closer Mariano Rivera in a pregame ceremony. Rookie outfielder Juan Perez, back home in the Bronx, hit an RBI double for the Giants. The defending World Series champions have spent all week in New York -- they took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field, where a large throng of vocal San Francisco fans made them feel right at home. Giants rooters came out in the Bronx, too, easy to spot in their orange or black jerseys. An audible chant of "Lets go Giants!" quickly drew boos from Yankees fans in the crowd of 41,734. "Theres a lot of Giants fans here. I noticed that. They travel well," Rodriguez said. With the score tied at 1, Eduardo Nunez grounded a single through the right side to start the seventh. Lincecum (10-14) hit Brendan Ryan with a pitch and walked Ichiro Suzuki with two outs, loading the bases and ending the right-handers night. Rodriguez, hampered by a sore leg lately, reached out and lofted a 2-1 pitch from George Kontos toward the hitter-friendly dimensions in right field for his 654th career homer and seventh this season. "Just tough to watch and tough to put somebody in that kind of situation," Lincecum said. "Just wasted a lot of pitches that inning, didnt attack the zone as much as the previous six, and I felt like I couldve gotten out of that better than what happened." The hit snapped a 1-for-25 slide for A-Rod, who returned Aug. 5 from hip surgery. It was his 14th slam for the Yankees, moving him ahead of Joe DiMaggio for second place on the franchise list behind Gehrig. "Im a huge fan of Lou Gehrig, everything hes done, going back to his college days in New York," Rodriguez said. "Hes kind of the gold standard for a Yankee. Special moment. Ill think about it someday." Sabathia was pulled after a leadoff single in the eighth and walked off to a warm ovation. David Robertson got Perez to ground into a double play, and Rivera worked a perfect ninth. But it was Rodriguez who delivered the big blow. "Unbelievable -- especially at that moment. He came up big for us again," Sabathia said. "Hopefully we can just keep getting big hits like that and keep winning games." Lincecum, who had won four straight decisions, was looking for his first five-game winning streak since early in the 2010 season. He was charged with four runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He threw 66 of 121 pitches for strikes. "He pitched great," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Its some tough luck there in that last inning." NOTES: Giants CF Angel Pagan was rested in favour of Perez. ... DH Buster Posey singled in the sixth to end a 1-for-23 skid on the road trip. ... Rodriguezs previous slam came in Atlanta on June 12 last year. ... Looking to spark his struggling lineup, Girardi moved a slumping Suzuki into the leadoff spot, partly because he had faced Lincecum several times in the past few years. ... LHP Boone Logan (elbow) was available, Girardi said. ... After the Yankees got in late following Thursday nights loss at Toronto, C Chris Stewart was rested in favour of rookie J.R. Murphy. "Physically, I just think its too hard," Girardi said.
[b]Authentic Jordan Poyer Jersey[/b] . The Heat centre scored 10 of his 30 points early in the first quarter to silence the Toronto fans as Miami defeated the Raptors 113-101 on Friday night.
[b]Authentic Micah Hyde Jersey[/b] . -- Ben Bishop had a milestone game against one of the NHLs greatest goalies. ORLANDO, Fla. -- As well as the Wizards have played at times in the past month, Washington coach Randy Wittman said he expected a team that had never been in a tight playoffs race to go through a few growing pains. After two tough losses to start the week, Washington showed the kind of bounce back ability it will take to survive if they do eventually make it there. John Wall survived a poor shooting night to score 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, Trevor Ariza added 21 points and 11 rebounds overall, and the Wizards hung on to beat the Orlando Magic 105-101 in overtime Friday night. "I wasnt making shots the whole game," Wall said. "The only shots it felt like I was making were 3s." The victory ends the Wizards two-game losing streak overall, and a seven-game road losing streak to the Magic. Bradley Beal added 20 points and a game-changing block before being helped off the court with sprained right ankle in overtime. Marcin Gortat finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. "We realize that its about time for us to start winning," Gortat said. "Its about time to clinch that spot and get those wins, especially against teams like Orlando." Beals injury looked a lot more serious when it happened, with him having to be carried off the court by teammates. He is day-to-day. Orlando led by as many as nine in the second half before seeing that lead evaporate down the stretch. Tobias Harris had 21 points and Arron Afflalo finished with 18 to lead the Magic. Orlando has now lost five in a row and 11 of their last 14. "Its painful, it hurts, but you learn from it," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. Wall was fined $15,000 for inappropriate comments toward officials at the conclusion of the Wizards loss against Charlotte on Wednesday, and he had another run-in with the referees Friday. He was whistled for a technical foul in the third quarter for continuing to argue a non-foul call with referee Joey Crawford after Wall had walked back to the sideline huddle. It punctuated a mostly frustrating night for Wall, who finished just 7-of-18 shooting. But he picked it up when he had to. Jameer Nelson hit two free throws for the seventh lead-change of overtime to give the Magic a 97-96 lead.
[b]Authentic Ray-Ray McCloud Jersey[/b]. He got a steal on the Wizards next possession, but had his layup attempt blocked from behind by Beal. It was rebounded by Wall, who found Ariza in the corner for 3 to put Washington back up 99-97. "That was just hustle play, one that we definitely needed. John got a pass deflected, and my first instinct was to just go chase it down," Beal said. "He had a head start on me I guess I kind of baited him into it, and I was able to jump up and get it before it was (goaltending)." Soon after that play was when Beal went down with his ankle injury. It didnt stifle the Wizards momentum, though, with Wall sinking a jumper with less than 30 seconds to play. The Magic were forced to foul after a miss and the Wizards closed out the victory at the foul line. The Magic led 60-51 in the third quarter before the Wizards ended the period on a 16-6 spurt to take a 67-66 lead into the fourth. Orlando regained its footing, though, getting seven straight points from Victor Oladipo to start the quarter. After several lead changes Harris sank a pair of free throws to put the Magic in front at 85-79 with just 1:55 to play. Wall cut it to three with a 3-pointer, but Harris responded with tip-in on the other end. Wall was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the Wizards next trip down the floor, but got only two of his three free-throw attempts to fall. A missed jumper by Oladipo on the Magics ensuing touch gave it back to Washington and Wall then tied it at 87 with 10.6 remaining. Oladipo got up a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired in regulation, but it bounced off the side of the rim. But in the end, the Wizards felt as though Beals big block was the biggest reason they were able to walk out with their first victory in Orlando in over four years. "Hes making a name for himself," Gortat said. "Hes one of our rising stars." NOTES: Orlando dropped to 1-5 in overtime games this season. ... Orlando is 0-32 when being outrebounded this season. ... Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. sat courtside.
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