Yankees stifled by Lannan

“He threw the ball in and out, mixed his pitches up, threw strikes,’’ Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez said.

Johnny Damon hit a leadoff homer in the ninth and Mark Teixeira singled with one out, sending Lannan to the dugout and the Yankee Stadium crowd into a frenzy. Mike MacDougal replaced Lannan, who was born in Long Beach and wouldn’t even hazard a guess when asked how many games he went to at the old stadium.

“My memories of ‘Let’s go Yankees’ chants there, and just to be on the mound during that was unbelievable no matter what happens,’’ he said. “I’m glad we came out with a win tonight.’’

Pinch runner Brett Gardner stole second and third on consecutive pitches with MacDougal on the mound before Rodriguez walked. But MacDougal got Robinson Cano to ground into a game-ending double play, pumping his fist after second baseman Anderson Hernandez threw to first.

Adam Dunn homered and Nick Johnson hit a two-run triple for the Nationals, who had lost 16 of 19.

Rangers 5, Astros 4 - David Murphy hit an RBI single with one out in the 10th inning as host Texas took advantage of two throwing errors by Ivan Rodriguez on the day he set the major league record for games caught. Rodriguez, who began his career at age 19 in 1991 and played 12 seasons in Texas, caught his 2,227th game to break Carlton Fisk’s record.

Rockies 5, Rays 3 - Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Aaron Cook survived a shaky fifth inning that included homers by Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford as host Colorado snapped Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak.

Angels 4, Giants 3 - Pinch hitters Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero opened Los Angeles’s three-run rally with consecutive singles in the eighth inning, and the visiting Angels earned their season-high sixth straight victory.

Mariners 4, Padres 3 - Jose Lopez hit a two-run homer and the decisive run scored on an error as visiting Seattle extended San Diego’s major league-record interleague losing streak to 13.