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SEA@NYY: Garcia becomes first Venezuelan to 150 wins

NEW YORK -- The Yankees' rotation is missing two of its best starters but isn't skipping a beat.

David Phelps picked up the win in the Yankees' 8-2 victory over the Rangers in Monday's series opener while filling in for injured ace CC Sabathia. Freddy Garcia, who has taken over for Andy Pettitte since the left-hander sustained a fractured left ankle on June 27, will take the mound on Wednesday. In his last six starts against Texas, Garcia is 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA, having allowed two or fewer earned runs in all but one of those outings.

"You can only have so many starters on the DL and run out big league starters that have been through it before, and then eventually your depth is tested," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Freddy has kind of stepped up in Andy's absence and done a good job."

Since replacing Pettitte in the rotation, Garcia is 4-4 with 3.83 ERA over eight starts. After dropping three straight decisions to end last month, the veteran righty has won both of his starts in August, most recently giving up two runs on five hits over six innings in Friday's 10-4 victory over the Blue Jays. Garcia's last start against the Rangers was his first as a member of the Yankees; he tossed six scoreless innings in a 5-2 win on April 16, 2011.

"Freddy has done a great job," Pettitte said. "I'm proud for him with the starts that he's had. Really, you expect it. He's a veteran player, and you know the guy's going to win. He has a great mentality, a great demeanor about himself. I love the way he goes about his business."

Scott Feldman has intermittently filled in for injured Rangers starters but has now earned a spot of his own in the team's rotation. Roy Oswalt, not Feldman, was sent to the bullpen when Texas acquired Ryan Dempster from the Cubs before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

After becoming the second player in Major League history to improve to 6-6 after starting a season 0-6, Feldman lost on Friday for the first time in nearly two months. He gave up four runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Rangers fell to the Tigers, 6-2.

"I'm just looking at trying to make good pitches and get those guys to swing the bat," Feldman said. "There are a lot of challenges in this league and a lot of good hitters. The Yankees have good hitters, the Tigers have good hitters and so do we. I'm just focused on making good pitches."

Rangers: Hill signs Minor League deal
With Mike Napoli on the disabled list with a strained left quadriceps, the Rangers addressed their sudden lack of depth at catcher by signing Koyie Hill to a Minor League contract on Tuesday. Hill, who played in 11 games with the Cubs this season, was hitting .163 with two home runs and nine RBIs for the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse before being released on Aug. 3.

Geovany Soto, who was traded by the Cubs on July 31, has assumed the Rangers' everyday catching duties, while Luis Martinez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock to be Soto's backup when Napoli landed on the DL. Martinez went 0-for-4 in the Rangers' 3-0 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday.

"It's a great opportunity," Martinez said. "I'm going to make the best of it and help my team any way I can. This team has so much talent. I want to help any way I can to get us in the World Series and get a ring. I'm enjoying every moment of this."

Yankees: Jeter moves up hits list
Derek Jeter took advantage of his first opportunity on Tuesday to break a tie with Nap Lajoie on the all-time hits list. Jeter singled off Rangers left-hander Matt Harrison in his first at-bat of the game for his 3,243rd career hit, finishing 2-for-4. With an RBI double in his last at-bat on Monday, Jeter tied Lajoie, who has 3,252 hits according to the Elias Sports Bureau's count, although MLB has Lajoie with 10 fewer hits in his 21-year career. The next man on the list is Eddie Murray, who has the 11th-most hits all time with 3,255.

• Pettitte is expected to throw long toss this week after getting positive results from X-rays that were taken on Monday. The lefty said that he could be pitching on a mound as soon as Sept. 1 but wants to be careful not to return before he's ready.

"I know that now if I have another setback, we've got serious problems and my season's probably over," Pettitte said. "Now we're probably going to be overcautious about what we can do to make sure I'm back."

Worth noting
• Josh Hamilton's 11-game hitting streak and Nelson Cruz's eight-game streak came to an end in Tuesday's game. Elvis Andrus and Michael Young accounted for the team's only two hits as Hiroki Kuroda tossed his fourth career shutout.

• A pair of Yankees, Mark Teixeira and Derek Lowe, along with Rangers manager Ron Washington were named on Tuesday as the next class to be inducted into the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame.

• If Joe Nathan converts his next save opportunity, he will set the Rangers record for most consecutive converted save opportunities. He has converted 21 straight since blowing a save against the Mariners on April 11, putting together the third-longest such streak in the Majors behind Chris Perez (24) and Fernando Rodney (22).

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