NEW YORK — Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer, Derek Jeter sparked a rally with a two-out, two-run double and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3 on Sunday.
Hours after the Indians learned they would be without star center fielder Grady Sizemore for at least six to eight weeks and possibly longer, they were reminded that their problems are more extensive.
Alex Rodriguez was 0-for-3 a day after hitting Cleveland pitcher David Huff in the head with a line drive. Huff showed no symptoms of a concussion before the game, smiling and joking around in the dugout.
Justin Masterson held the Yankees scoreless until the seventh inning, when Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner singled before Jeter's hit.
Tony Sipp (0-1) came on and gave up a double to Curtis Granderson before Teixeira's blast.
A.J. Burnett (6-2), struck out eight and allowed only one earned run in eight innings. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth.
Roughly 24 hours after Huff's injury put a scare into both teams, Rivera had to leap over the barrel of Luis Valbuena's broken bat to field the ball for the final out.
Sipp, who had allowed three earned runs in 21 appearances before this weekend, has given up six in two appearances, retiring only one of the eight batters he faced.
Masterson has struggled to retire left-handed hitters all season, but held the lefty-heavy Yankees scoreless until the seventh inning. Switch-hitter Swisher and lefty Brett Gardner singled before Jeter poked a two-out single up the middle.
Masterson was charged with three runs, striking out eight in 6 2/3 innings.
Juan Miranda added an RBI double in the eighth for New York and Francisco Cervelli hit a sacrifice fly.
Sizemore's replacement for the time being, Trevor Crowe, hit an RBI single in the third and made a nice play to run down Robinson Cano's deep drive to end the sixth inning. While Crowe has the job for now, the Indians also may use Michael Brantley, who is at Triple-A Columbus.
After making it 1-0, Crowe was caught in a rundown after Burnett threw over to first, catching him off the bag.
The Indians scored two runs in the seventh on shortstop Jeter's throwing error and Jason Donald's RBI triple off Swisher's glove in right field.
Notes
In the seventh, Valbuena was hit on his foot by a pitch. He hopped in pain and stepped on C Chad Moeller's bare hand. Both players remained in the game, though Cervelli later pinch-hit for Moeller. … Swisher made a leaping catch on Jhonny Peralta's drive to the wall with two outs in the fourth. After making the play and bouncing off the wall, Swisher came up throwing, even though it was the third out of the inning. … Cleveland DH Travis Hafner singled in the first inning, reaching base for the 20th straight game. … Cleveland recalled right-handed reliever Jensen Lewis from Columbus on Sunday before the game. LHP Aaron Laffey was optioned down so he can build innings in an attempt to join the Indians' rotation. …. Yankees 2B Cano extended his hitting streak to 13 games. … Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo was 0-for-4, bringing his slump to 0-for-17.