NEW YORK - Even Ruben Sierra figured his shot would go foul.
Yet in a twist of the Yankees' fortune, Sierra's drive landed squarely on the leftfield line for a pinch-hit double, highlighting a six-run rally in the eighth inning that sent slumping New York over the Athletics 10-8 Tuesday night.
"For a minute, I thought the ball was going to hook outside," Sierra said. "I saw the ball was turning to the line."
Sierra paused for a moment to watch, then took off after chalk kicked up near the corner. The go-ahead two-run hit came after a sloppy, frustrating game in which most everything seemed go against the Yankees.
Trailing 8-4 and in danger of their fifth straight defeat, the defending league champions broke loose and handed Oakland its fourth loss in a row.
Yankees starter Mike Mussina failed to hold an early lead and was looking at a clubhouse television when the comeback began with two soft singles and two walks. He still wasn't sure when the ball left Sierra's bat.
"Before that, it would've been a foot foul, the way we were going," he said.
Bernie Williams started the rally with a single that ended his 0-for-13 rut and he capped it with a run-scoring grounder. Sierra, batting for former Devil Rays infielder Miguel Cairo, put the Yankees ahead 9-8 with his bases-loaded double off Ricardo Rincon.
A crowd of 33,191 that had booed Derek Jeter - he was 0-for-3, extending his career-worst slump to 0-for-28 - cheered wildly when Sierra came through.
"Hopefully, it does relax them," manager Joe Torre said. "It was a good way to win, coming back late with a lot of people contributing."
Donovan Osborne got one out for the victory. Ex-Ray Jim Mecir took over for Tim Hudson after seven innings and let the first five batters reach.
"We had a bit of a meltdown there in the bullpen," Athletics manager Ken Macha said. "Four-run lead in the eighth, figure you close it out. It's one that you like to think you had."
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his sixth save in six chances. He made his 523rd appearance, passing Dave Righetti for most by a Yankees pitcher.
INDIANS 11, WHITE SOX 7 (10): Casey Blake hit a go-ahead run-scoring double in the 10th and Omar Vizquel had four hits and drove in two to lead visiting Cleveland. Vizquel's sacrifice fly to left in the eighth drove in Ronnie Belliard to tie it at 7.
ANGELS 10, TIGERS 4: Darin Erstad hit a three-run double and Troy Glaus had two RBIs to help visiting Anaheim win its fifth straight. John Lackey earned his first win of the season. Glaus tripled, doubled and singled, and Vladimir Guerrero also had three hits.
MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 5: Dan Wilson homered in the fourth and drove in the tiebreaking run in the seventh, and visiting Seattle snapped a five-game losing streak. The Mariners improved to 1-11 when allowing five or more runs.
TWINS 7, BLUE JAYS 4: Jacque Jones hit a three-run homer with one out in the ninth, lifting host Minnesota. Torii Hunter tied it with a single one batter before Jones sent a 1-and-2 pitch from Justin Speier into the leftfield seats for his team-leading fourth home run.
RANGERS 3, ROYALS 2: R.A. Dickey allowed four hits in 61/3 innings and Texas broke a nine-game losing streak in Kansas City. The Rangers won for the sixth time in seven games and beat the Royals at home for the first time since Sept. 2, 2001.
