NEW YORK — Brett Gardner's jersey was covered with dirt. So was the back of each pinstriped pants leg and the side of each dark blue sock.

Seven days into his major league career, the 24-year-old had singled home the winning run in the 10th inning. To beat the Boston Red Sox. On national television.

Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and the rest of the New York Yankees ran out on the field to congratulate him, and what remained of the sellout crowd of 54,922 demanded a curtain call.

"That's awesome. Something I'll remember for the rest of my life," Gardner said last night after the Yankees' 5-4 victory, which gained New York a four-game split. "It's definitely an unbelievable experience."

Alex Rodriguez hit his 536th homer, tying Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for 13th on the career list with a second-inning drive against Tim Wakefield. Robinson Cano had a two-run triple in the seventh off Javier Lopez that tied it 4-4.

Cano singled off Jonathan Papelbon (3-3) leading off the 10th, making him 9 for 23 in July and raising his average to .252. Melky Cabrera sacrificed and pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit struck out.

Given the chance to start because of the shoulder injury that landed Johnny Damon on the disabled list for the first time, Gardner was just 1 for 18 before singling in the sixth. He scored on Jeter's single.

Against Papelbon, Gardner fouled off a pair of 0-2 pitches, took two balls and fouled off another pitch. He then sent a soft grounder up the middle on a splitter. Shortstop Alex Cora dived, but the ball kicked off his glove and into the outfield as Cano scored.

"I was talking to the ball. I was trying to talk it up the middle," Gardner said. "As soon as I saw him get some glove on it, I was like, 'Oh, no. He's going to knock it down.' But it squirted away."

New York remained a season-high nine games behind the first-place Rays before a two-game series at Tampa starting tomorrow. The Red Sox went 3-7 on a trip that included six one-run losses and dropped five games back of the Rays.

"Seems like that's what's going to happen if you're going to beat me this year: broken bat or find-your-way-through-the-infield somehow," Papelbon said. "I've got to be able to go out and get the first guy."

Rays 9, Royals 2: Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer during a four-run third, and host Tampa Bay beat Kansas City for its seventh straight win. James Shields (7-5) gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings to win his third consecutive start. He struck out eight and walked one.

Twins 4, Indians 3: Carlos Gomez capped a three-run seventh inning against All-Star Cliff Lee with an RBI groundout, and host Minnesota handed Cleveland its eighth straight loss. Lee (11-2) lost for the first time in nine starts, allowing four runs and six hits in seven innings.

White Sox 4, Athletics 3: John Danks (6-4) set a career high with nine strikeouts as host Chicago beat Oakland. Danks took a no-hitter into the sixth as the White Sox salvaged a four-game split after dropping the first two. Chicago has won 10 of its last 13 games.

Angels 7, Blue Jays 1: Jon Garland (8-5) pitched a six-hitter for his 100th major league victory and Jeff Mathis tied a career high with three RBIs as host Los Angeles beat Toronto. Garland went the distance for the ninth time in 241 career starts and first in 18 outings with Los Angeles.

Rangers 11, Orioles 10: David Murphy hit a three-run homer and Ian Kinsler got three singles to extend his hitting streak to 18 games as visiting Texas beat Baltimore.

Tigers 2, Mariners 1: Marcus Thames hit a sacrifice fly off of backup catcher Jamie Burke (0-1) in the 15th inning as visiting Detroit beat Seattle in 15 innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cubs 7, Cardinals 1: Aramis Ramirez had two hits and three RBIs as visiting Chicago beat St. Louis. Geovany Soto hit his 15th homer and Derrek Lee had three hits and an RBI for the NL Central leaders, who took two of three from the second-place Cardinals and won for only the fourth time in 11 games overall.

Mets 4, Phillies 2: Fernando Tatis hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning, lifting visiting New York over Philadelphia in a game that ended more than seven hours after it started. Jayson Werth hit a two-run shot off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth to send the game into extra innings after it was delayed 2 hours, 50 minutes because of heavy rain in the bottom of the eighth.

Dodgers 5, Giants 3: James Loney doubled twice and drove in three runs as visiting Los Angeles beat San Francisco for its third consecutive series win. Andre Ethier added three hits and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have won eight of their past 10 road games. Matt Kemp also drove in a run.

Braves 7, Astros 6: Mark Teixeira singled off the wall with the bases loaded in the 17th inning, giving Atlanta a victory over Houston in the longest game in Turner Field history.

Brewers 11, Pirates 6: J.J. Hardy hit two homers and All-Star starter Ryan Braun added one as host Milwaukee completed a three-game sweep. Milwaukee tied franchise records with nine doubles and 12 extra-base hits to finish its fifth series sweep, all at home.

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 2: Randy Johnson (5-7) struck out 10 and allowed three hits in 6 1/3 innings as host Arizona beat San Diego. Johnson moved into sole possession of 24th place on the career victory list with his 289th win, moving ahead of Tommy John.

Marlins 10, Rockies 5: Cody Ross homered and drove in five runs as visiting Florida beat Colorado.

Reds 6, Nationals 5: Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and host Cincinnati held on to beat Washington, completing a four-game series sweep.