ARLINGTON, Texas — Joba Chamberlain’s return is unknown, Alex Rodriguez is slumping and the New York Yankees remain three games behind Boston for the AL wild card.

But the Yankees aren’t going away.

A disastrous start in Texas to a crucial 10-game road swing has turned into a sudden display of resolve from the Yankees, whose next stop begins today with a three-game series at the AL-leading Los Angeles Angels.

Mike Mussina pitched seven sharp innings Thursday night and held the most powerful offense in the majors scoreless in a 3-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Mariano Rivera picked up his career-best 28th consecutive save, and the Rangers were shut out for only the second time.

The Yankees gained a four-game split with Texas after losing the first pair. It’s not exactly a roll, but it’s a long way from how their road swing began.

“We’re not going to win every day,” Mussina said. “But we gotta win the majority of them to keep ourselves in it.”

At Seattle, the Mariners got a winning homer from Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the ninth to beat Tampa Bay 2-1.

The Yankees have sputtered in trying to find a rhythm of late, and had lost seven of 10 after dropping the first two games of this series. Now they’ve won four of six.

Mussina (15-7) matched Cleveland’s Cliff Lee for most wins in the American League and got his fifth victory in seven starts. The 39-year-old right-hander gave up eight hits, struck out six and stayed unbeaten in his last seven road outings.

It was the second straight night the Yankees got reliable pitching, something they’ll especially need in the coming weeks.

Chamberlain is on the 15-day disabled list after being diagnosed this week with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder. The timetable for his return is murky.

But the Yankees, whose pitching staff was already hobbled, didn’t let Chamberlain’s injury get them down. Instead, starter Sidney Ponson carried the team to a win Wednesday before Mussina’s gem on Thursday.

“It’s huge because of where we are in the standings and having to catch people,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “To come back shows the character of our team.”

The Yankees also expect to have catcher Ivan Rodriguez back in the lineup Friday after bruising his right knee in a collision at home plate Wednesday with Rangers outfielder David Murphy. The Texas rookie got the worst of the crash and is expected to miss two to four weeks.

The Rangers entered the game with a major league-best 651 runs and led in most offensive categories, including hits and extra bases.

But the lineup didn’t help Scott Feldman (4-5), who also pitched well but couldn’t keep pace with Mussina. He lasted seven innings, allowing seven hits and striking out four.

A-Rod was booed again in his latest return to Texas, where he finished the series 0-for-14 — though Girardi said he wasn’t worried about his high-priced slugger.

“I’m not too concerned,” Girardi said. “I know he’ll bounce back.”

Derek Jeter’s homer would have been all the Yankees needed thanks to Mussina, who threw his second scoreless outing in his last four starts.

“It’s hard to swallow to lose a 3-0 game with our offense,” Rangers catcher Gerald Laird said. “But it’s one of those games where you’ve got to tip your cap to the pitcher. He pitched a heck of a game.”



Ibanez lined a pitch from Dan Wheeler (2-5) inside the right-field foul pole to give the Mariners their first game-ending homer of the season.

J.J. Putz (5-4) escaped trouble in the ninth and Felix Hernandez allowed just four hits and one run in eight innings for Seattle, which won for just the fourth time in 57 games when trailing after seven innings.



Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson homered and Ryan Raburn made a nice catch to shut off a late Chicago rally, helping visiting Detroit snap a six-game skid.

Zach Miner (6-4) allowed seven hits and two runs — one earned — in six innings. Fernando Rodney got the final four outs to get his second save in six chances and just the 23rd in 43 opportunities for Detroit’s struggling bullpen.

Javier Vazquez (8-10) threw a season-high 122 pitches over seven innings for Chicago.



A.J. Burnett (14-9) won his fourth straight start and host Toronto extended Oakland’s losing streak to 10 games.

Winless since July 27, the A’s have dropped seven straight series and are a major league-worst 2-17 since the All-Star break. The last time Oakland had a losing streak this long was a 12-game skid that began with nine straight losses in September 1995 and continued with three more defeats in April 1996. The A’s also lost 12 consecutive games in April 1994.

Jerry Blevins (1-2) took the loss for Oakland.