ARLINGTON, Texas – Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina gave the Yankees the type of starts New York has been missing for much of the season, and Mariano Rivera came through twice.

The bullpen didn’t hold the lead for Pettitte but held for Mussina in his return from the disabled list. With Hideki Matsui hitting a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning of the opener and Doug Mientkiewicz supplying an early two-run homer in the second game, the Yankees beat Texas 4-3 and 5-2 Thursday night to sweep a three-game series from the Rangers.

“We came in with a little more fire, a little more aggression,” Mientkiewicz said. “We came in with a little more attitude and it showed.”

Rivera saved two games in one day for the fifth time in his major league career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the first since Sept. 29, 2004, against Minnesota. Rivera, who has three saves in five chances this season, pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the opener but allowed a pair of singles leading off the ninth in the second game before striking out Gerald Laird and getting Kenny Lofton to ground into a double play.

Royals 5, Angels 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Gil Meche allowed two hits in seven innings, retiring 17 straight batters after Vladimir Guerrero’s two-run homer in the first and leading the Kansas City Royals over the Los Angeles Angels 5-2.

Meche (3-1), whose 2.23 ERA is third in the AL behind Oakland’s Dan Haren (1.60) and the Angels’ John Lackey (2.19), struck out six and walked one. Meche walked Reggie Willits in a 10-pitch at-bat right ahead of Guerrero’s ninth home run.

Only two Angels hit the ball out of the infield during his stretch of 17 straight batters retired, a streak that ended in the seventh when Guerrero reached on a one-out infield single that went off second baseman Esteban German’s glove.

Indians 6, Blue Jays 5

CLEVELAND – Grady Sizemore hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Indians rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 Thursday night and complete a three-game sweep.

Victor Martinez had four hits for Cleveland, which trailed 4-0 in the third inning of Cliff Lee’s first start of the season but came back for its 10th win in 11 games following a 7-7 start.

Mike Rouse, who had been 1-for-19 this season, singled with two outs in the eighth against Jason Frasor (1-1). Josh Barfield singled Rouse to third and Sizemore hit a 3-2 pitch to right-center, with the ball bouncing into the stands.

Aaron Fultz (3-0) pitched the eighth, and Joe Borowski finished for his 10th save in 11 chances.

Devil Rays 6, Twins 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – James Shields gave up three runs over 7 1-3 innings and Rocco Baldelli had a two-run homer as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4.

Shields (3-0) allowed nine hits, including singles to the final two batters he faced in the eighth. He worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth by striking out Joe Mauer and getting Justin Morneau to hit into a double play.

Baldelli homered off Ramon Ortiz (3-2) during a four-run third that put the Devil Rays ahead 4-1.

The Twins got within 5-4 in the eighth on Jason Tyner’s sacrifice fly and run-scoring singles by Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto off Shawn Camp.

Al Reyes pitched the ninth for his 10th save in as many chances.

After Baldelli’s shot in the third, Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a throwing error by Ortiz to second base on a potential double-play grounder by Ty Wigginton.

Pirates 4, Brewers 2

MILWAUKEE – Given a chance to move 10 games over .500 for the first time in 15 years, the Milwaukee Brewers fell short.

Jose Bautista and Ronny Paulino hit consecutive home runs in a four-run seventh inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 4-2 victory that stopped the Brewers’ four-game winning streak.

Milwaukee (18-10), which leads that NL Central, has not been 10 games over .500 since finishing the 1992 season 92-70. That also was the last time the Brewers finished with a winning record.

Astros 7, Reds 5

HOUSTON – Luke Scott hit a go-ahead, two-run double in a three-run eighth inning, leading the Houston Astros over the Cincinnati Reds 7-5.

With the Reds ahead 5-4, pinch-hitters Mike Lamb and Mark Loretta hit back-to-back singles off Mike Stanton (1-1) with one out in the eighth, and Scott doubled to left-center for a 6-5 lead. Craig Biggio followed with an RBI double, his 2,957th hit. Dan Wheeler got three outs for his fifth save in six chances, inducing Ken Griffey Jr. to ground into a game-ending double play with two on. Houston, which overcame Griffey’s 566th homer, took two of three for its first series win since sweeping two games at Cincinnati on April 18-19.

Chad Qualls (3-1) inherited a 4-2 lead in the eighth from Wandy Rodriguez but walked Ryan Freel, then allowed Brandon Phillips’ triple and Griffey tying single. With Jeff Conine batting, Griffey stole second and advanced to third on an error by catcher Brad Ausmus, who overthrew second base. Conine followed with a sacrifice fly.

Rodriguez, 0-3 in five starts, struck out a career-high eight and allowed two runs, six hits and no walks in seven innings.

Reds starter Eric Milton gave up four runs – three earned – and seven hits in five innings. Milton, who has a 4.85 ERA, avoided becoming the first Reds pitcher to lose his first five starts since Joey Jay in 1963.

Griffey hit his second homer in three days in the first inning. Rodriguez retired the next seven batters and 15 of the next 17. At one point, the 28-year-old struck out five in a row. Griffey singled in the sixth before Rodriguez struck out Conine to end the inning.

Houston took a 3-1 lead in the first when Carlos Lee hit a two-run double and rookie Hunter Pence had an RBI single. Morgan Ensberg added an RBI double in the fourth.

David Ross cut Cincinnati’s deficit to 4-2 with an RBI double in the seventh.

Notes: Houston reliever Rick White, who strained a muscle in his left side while warming up to pitch last week, will make rehab appearances on Saturday and Monday at Double-A Corpus Christi. … Houston’s Adam Everett is 0-for-11 in the last three games.

AP-ES-05-03-07 2306EDT