ARLINGTON, Texas (Reuters) - The New York Yankees overcame a hard-throwing Cliff Lee and five-run deficit to stun the Texas Rangers 7-6 on Wednesday.
Derek Jeter tied the game with a run-scoring single in the ninth then Marcus Thames followed with the game-winning RBI as the Yankees completed a comeback that had seen them trail 6-1 at the end of the fifth.
Lee, who had beaten the Yankees twice in last season's World Series when he played for Philadelphia, and with Texas on June 29, struck out 11 batters in 6 1/3 innings.
But the durable left-hander gave up four runs and failed to pitch at least eight innings for the first time in 10 outings.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, New York closer Mariano Rivera allowed a lead-off triple to Elvis Andrus but earned the save with three successive outs.
The closer had allowed the game-winning hit to the Rangers on Tuesday.
Jeter scored on Lee's wild pitch in the sixth, and New York added two runs in the seventh before Thames blasted a solo homer in the eighth to pull his team within one.
(Reporting by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
