Good Evening Mr. Phelps

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to shut down the Texas Rangers through five innings. If you or any member of your team fail in this mission, the fans will NOT disavow any knowledge of your actions. In fact they may boo. This tape will self destruct in five seconds.

Mission Not Impossible

David Phelps gave the agency, er, Joe Girardi exactly what he needed - five innings of solid baseball, keeping his team in the game against one of the toughest lineups in all of baseball. Phelps allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, including a solo home run by David Murphy, but put three zeros on the board as the Yankees took the lead and went on to an 8-2 win.

The newest Yankee, Derek Lowe, than came out of the pen to throw four scoreless innings to earn a save in his Bronx debut.  Texas Rangers starter Ryan Dempster was making his third start since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Chicago Cubs. Dempster's first time out was a rocky one as the Los Angeles Angels battered him, but Dempster bounced back with a win over the Boston Red Sox his last time out. Monday's game resembled his Texas debut as the Yankees hammered him for eight runs and nine hits in six innings.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the third behind singles by Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez, a sac bunt by Ichiro Suzuki, and a walk to Derek Jeter. Nick Swisher then ripped a Dempster delivery into the second deck in right field for a grand slam and a 4-2 Yankees lead. It was the 200th home run of Swisher's career.

The Yankees loaded the bases again in the inning on Robinson Cano's walk and back to back singles by Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez. Curtis Granderson brought home the fifth run of the inning with a deep fly to center field.

Phelps helped himself out with a pair of pick offs in the early going. He hit Ian Kinsler with a pitch with two out in the 2nd inning, but caught the second baseman before he could return to first safely with a quick toss to Teixeira to end the inning. The Rangers had a chance to break the game open in the 3rd on singles by Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre, but Phelps picked Andrus off second base to kill the rally.

The Yankees tacked on runs in the 6th (solo home run by Chavez) and 7th innings (triple by Ichiro followed by a Jeter double, and an RBI single by Swisher). If Lowe was at all nervous he certainly didn't show it in his performance. The 16-year veteran allowed just two hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out four.

Notes

Mariano Rivera was at the Stadium to throw from flat ground. The Yankees still insist there's no way Mo will return this season.

Swisher's slam gave the Yankees a Major League leading nine for the season.

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to nine games; he's hitting .372 (16-43) during the stretch.

Chavez's home run was his 13th of the season and fourth in August. It's his highest season HR total since he hit 15 in 2007 while with the Oakland A's.

Granderson's average dipped to .239, the lowest it's been since mid-April. He also struck out twice more and has 142 on the year. It's already the third highest total of his career.