NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats. Somehow, hed let yet another lead slip away. Never before had baseballs all-time saves leader blown three straight chances. Silenced by a pair of Detroit home runs, the fans at Yankee Stadium soon perked up. Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tigers 5-4 Sunday for their first series win in more than a month. Rivera has a record 643 saves, but had never failed three in a row in 1,087 previous relief appearances. His troubles began in Chicago, where he gave back a lead to the White Sox. "At least its the first time, you know what I mean?" Rivera said. "I just try to go out there and do my job. The last three opportunities, I havent done it. So we have to continue battling and get better. Have to keep working and eventually it will happen." Rivera blew both save chances in this series. Gardner provided the winning hit in both games. "Mos bailed us out a few times," Gardner said. "It didnt matter if it was me or somebody else, we just needed to get a win today and Im glad we made it happen." Rivera (3-2) gave up another homer to a limping Miguel Cabrera, plus a drive to Victor Martinez in the top of the ninth. The solo shots made it 4-all and turned Alex Rodriguezs first homer of the season into a footnote. But Gardner connected off Jose Veras (0-5). The feisty centre fielder flipped his batting helmet to A-Rod just before reaching the plate, then jumped into a cluster of teammates at home. "To Martinez, that ball was just laying right flat up. And also with Miguel," Rivera said. "Youre facing professional hitters. If you dont put the ball where you need to, youre going to get hit." On Friday night, Rivera gave up a two-run shot to Cabrera, who fouled two balls off his leg before launching the tying drive. Gardner won it in the 10th with a single. Manager Joe Girardi is hardly going to start worrying now about the 43-year-old pitcher generally regarded as the best closer ever. "Its not like you forget how to pitch in a week," Girardi said. "Its impossible." Alfonso Soriano homered for his 2,000th hit in the fourth inning. He connected off Justin Verlander, as did Rodriguez. "All great pitchers have one thing in common: they attack you and throw strikes," Rodriguez on why hes had success against Verlander -- four homers in 28 at-bats. Rodriguez, who has missed most of the year while coming back from hip surgery, hit a leadoff homer in the second. His 648th career home run pushed him past Stan Musial for fifth on the RBIs list with 1,951. "It was a tremendous homer by A-Rod," Pena said. "Justin Verlander threw a great inside pitch and he used his hands and sometimes you just have to credit the hitter." Lustily booed Friday night in his season debut at Yankee Stadium, he quickly turned fans around Sunday with a soaring shot to left field that made it 1-all. Rodriguez drove in one more run with a single down the first base line in the third. "Felt good to get the first one out of the way," Rodriguez said. "Today was a step in the right direction." Late lineup-addition Brayan Pena homered in the eighth off Yankees setup man David Robertson, cutting Detroits deficit to 4-2. Pena played for Alex Avila, who was placed on the 7-day concussion list after the game. Avila was hit in the mask by a foul ball Thursday but played Saturday. He was in the initial lineup Sunday. On a glorious August afternoon in the Bronx, the Yankees avoided dropping to .500 for the first time since April 13, improving to 59-57. Taking two of three from the AL Central leaders gave New York its first series win July 5-7 after an 0-5-3 stretch. Gardner started a long-distance double play to end the eighth inning by leaping against the centre field wall to catch Torii Hunters fly and preserve the 4-2 lead. Prince Fielder had an RBI single in the first off Andy Pettitte, the eighth straight game the lefty allowed a run in the opening inning. Thats the longest such streak by a Yankees pitcher, according to STATS research back to 1920. Rodriguez made a stellar play in the eighth when he reached deep behind third base on Austin Jacksons grounder and threw to second to nail Jose Iglesias for the first out. Tigers manager Jim Leyland disputed the call, and TV replays appeared to back him up. Leyland was back on the field one batter later. Shaken after catching Hunters fly, Gardner flipped the ball to Soriano. The left fielder threw the ball to shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who tossed it to second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano easily tagged Austin Jackson, who stood confused on second base. "As I lowered my head as I rounded back to make sure I stepped on second base, I saw the ball on the ground so I thought it hadnt been caught," Jackson said. "Sometimes you have no way of telling whats going on behind you. It happens sometimes. He made a great catch." Half the team met Gardner at the dugout steps to congratulate the centre fielder. They all pounced on him after his homer. NOTES: Verlander gave up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. ... Rodriguez was given an error in the third on Martinezs slow roller that he ran in for but couldnt scoop with his glove. ... Rodriguezs two hits were his first off a right-hander in 25 at-bats dating to last years playoffs. ... The Tigers recalled C Bryan Holaday from Triple-A Toledo after the game. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. NFL Stitched Jerseys . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysforcheap.com/ . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Wholesale Authentic NBA Jerseys . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. NFL Jerseys For Sale . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. LOS ANGELES -- Derek Dietrich will always remember his first major league home run, and the fact that it was a timely hit for the Marlins was a bonus. Dietrich tied the game with a three-run shot, Juan Pierre singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Miami dealt the Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth straight loss, 5-4 on Friday night. The Marlins tied the game 3-all in the fourth on Dietrichs three-run homer with two outs. Placido Polanco and Marcell Ozuna sandwiched walks around a strikeout by Justin Ruggiano and a pop foul by Greg Dobbs before Dietrich sent a 3-2 pitch into the right field pavilion while playing in his second major league game. "How special," Dietrich said. "So many greats have played here. It kind of brings chills. Im glad my family got to see it." Miami ended its own three-game losing streak in the matchup of cellar dwellers. The Marlins have the NLs worst record at 11-25, and got outscored 11-1 during a three-game sweep in San Diego. "Weve been waiting on a big hit," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Got a young kid up there whos taking advantage of an opportunity." Rookie Jose Fernandez (2-2) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked two for his second major league win, having won at Philadelphia last weekend. "I keep learning every start," he said. Fernandez threw 17 consecutive strikes at one point in the game. "Hes one of those guys that you want to get to early because, as he gets settled, hes going to get better as the game goes on," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He was aggressive in the strike zone and he wasnt afraid of anybody. He was coming right after us." Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to earn his fifth save in six chances. Former Dodger Pierre singled to left field in the seventh, giving Miami a 4-3 lead. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded into a double play, scoring pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan, who doubled off the top of the wall in centre field. The umpires reviewed the play and upheld second base ump Chris Gucciones original call after Marlins manager Mike Redmond came out to discuss it. "It was a big play at the time and I just wanted to make sure they got it right, and they did," Redmond said. The Dodgers blew an early lead for the second straight game in equaling their longest skid since dropping eight in a row from Aug. 22-29, 2008. Five of the losses have been at home, tying their longest such skid since May 28-June 11 last year. At 13-21, the Dodgers are last in the NL West and have yet to win in May. Mattingly is facingg rampant speculation about his future with his high-priced lineup failing to contend.dddddddddddd Ronald Belisario (2-4) took the loss, giving up two runs and three hits in one-plus innings. He walked one and struck out none. The Dodgers have scored three runs or less seven times during their skid. Sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier continued to slump, combining to go 1 for 8. Kemp struck out twice. Rookie Matt Magill made his third career start for the Dodgers, giving up three runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked four in his second straight poor outing. The right-hander didnt make it out of the second inning last weekend at San Francisco. Los Angeles closed to 5-4 in the eighth when A.J. Ellis singled in Kemp, who led off with a single and stole second. They had the tying run on third when Dee Gordon grounded out to second base to end the inning. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but pinch-hitter Tim Federowicz flied out to centre to end the inning. After trailing early, Redmond noticed a change in Fernandez. "He came out up in the zone in the first and then he turned it up after that and was lights out," the manager said. "He pounded the strike zone and kept guys off-balance." The Dodgers staked Magill to a 3-0 lead in the first on Adrian Gonzalezs three-run homer. Carl Crawford led off with a single and Nick Punto walked to set up Gonzalez. They led 2-0 on Wednesday and ended up losing 3-2 to Arizona. Fernandez said that his first pitch after the homer "I felt like now Im pitching. Im young and trying to get adjusted to the game." NOTES: Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke and LHP Scott Elbert made their first rehab appearances for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in its game at Lake Elsinore on Friday night. Greinke allowed eight runs -- three earned -- and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked none. He broke his left collarbone in a bench-clearing brawl at San Diego last month. Elbert was expected to throw one inning of relief while rehabbing from left elbow surgery. ... Marlins INF Chris Valaika had two pins inserted in his left wrist Friday in Miami. Hes expected to be out six to eight weeks. ... The Marlins shuffled their rotation for Sundays series finale. RHP Tom Koehler will start in place of LHP Wade LeBlanc. ... The Dodgers selected the contract of OF/1B Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned IF/OF Elian Herrera back to Albuquerque three days after he had been called up. They also transferred RHP Chad Billingsley to the 60-day DL. He had Tommy John surgery on April 24. ' ' '