shooting 68.8 percent at Cleveland on Jan. 2

NEW YORK -- Not long after Alex Rodriguez revealed his farewell plans, Mark Teixeira showed he still has plenty left in the tank.Masahiro Tanaka rebounded from two rocky outings, Didi Gregorius homered on his bobblehead day and the New York Yankees held off the Cleveland Indians 3-2 Sunday after announcing that Rodriguez will play his final game in pinstripes this week.Teixeira, two days since disclosing his own plans to retire at the end of the season, hit an RBI double and dove toward first base to get a crucial out on defense. He has an extra-base hit in four of his past five games.Alexs thunder is always a little louder than mine anyway, a smiling Teixeira said, drawing laughs.Dellin Betances got four outs for his second save as New York took two of three from the AL Central leaders and won the season series 5-2.Cleveland, which remained two games ahead of Detroit, has dropped five of seven. Cleanup hitter Mike Napoli was ejected by plate umpire Lance Barrett after getting called out on strikes in the eighth inning.An irate Napoli, who jawed extensively with Barrett after strike two as well, screamed and pointed in the umpires face and might have nicked him with the bill of his helmet.Its been a difficult week, but I think everybodys ready to move on, Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said.Hit hard by the Mets in a Subway Series loss last week, Tanaka (8-4) was lifted with a 3-0 lead following Rajai Davis leadoff double in the seventh.Carlos Carrasco (7-6) also bounced back from a poor start and struck out nine in seven solid innings for the Indians, who tried to rally late.We just didnt get that big hit, Davis said.Davis scored when Adam Warren gave up an RBI single to No. 9 batter Roberto Perez, his second hit of the day after entering 2 for 40 (.050) this season.With two on, the 36-year-old Teixeira went to his knees for a sliding stop of Francisco Lindors two-out grounder behind first base. Teixeira gathered himself and barely beat Lindor to the bag with his outstretched mitt as both players dove headfirst.The effort drew cheers from a crowd of 39,720 that also gave Tanaka a warm ovation as he walked off the mound.A really impressive play, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Thats Tex. He gives everything hes got.Cleveland scored an unearned run on a wild pitch in the eighth and nearly got something going in the ninth.Chris Gimenez short-hopped the left-field fence with a leadoff drive but was held to a single by Brett Gardner. Second baseman Starlin Castro then started a difficult double play on Carlos Santanas sharp grounder, and Betances struck out Kipnis to end it.Gardner hit a leadoff triple in the first and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys sacrifice fly.Tanaka struck out eight and walked none.It might have been his best start of the year, Girardi said. I thought he was tremendous.About 2 hours before the game, Rodriguez and the rebuilding Yankees (56-55) announced the slumping slugger will play Friday night against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium and then be released. After that, he plans to become a special adviser and instructor with the organization next year.This is a tough day. I love this game and I love this team, the 41-year-old Rodriguez said, often choking up. And today Im saying goodbye to both.New York will pay A-Rod the remainder of the approximately $27 million hes owed as part of his $275 million, 10-year contract.Rodriguez, relegated to the bench again Sunday, said the agreement arose out of conversations over the past few days with Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner.Hopefully Friday will be a great day for Alex, Teixeira said. Were going to miss Alex in this clubhouse.HARD TO EXPLAINEllsbury was inexplicably doubled off first base on a foul popup near third. (His) answer made about as much sense as him going. All I can tell you was it was a brain cramp -- a real brain cramp, Girardi said. Thats a first for me.TRAINERS ROOMYankees: Rookie catcher Gary Sanchez was rested after playing consecutive games behind the plate. Austin Romine caught Tanaka, and Brian McCann was the DH. ... Castro also was rested in favor of Rob Refsnyder but entered on defense in the eighth and appeared in his 1,000th major league game.UP NEXTIndians: Following a day off, Cleveland opens a two-game interleague series at NL East-leading Washington. RHP Trevor Bauer (7-5, 4.08 ERA) starts Tuesday night against All-Star RHP Max Scherzer (12-6, 2.87). RHP Josh Tomlin will pitch Wednesday for the Indians instead of RHP Mike Clevinger.Yankees: RHP Luis Severino (1-6, 6.02 ERA) makes his first major league start since May 13 when New York begins a three-game series Tuesday night in Boston. RHP Rick Porcello (14-3, 3.46) goes for the Red Sox. Deandre Baker Giants Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Eli Manning Giants Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.nygiantsfanaticshop.com/Black-Daniel-Jones-Giants-Jersey.html?cat=962 . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Oshane Ximines Youth Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Darius Slayton Youth Jersey .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. SALT LAKE CITY -- No one should be surprised if Gordon Hayward ends up on an NBA all-star roster in February. Like a skilled gamer, Hayward has unlocked a new level and powered up.Hayward has made a habit of taking over games for the Utah Jazz on offense. His latest victim? The Los Angeles Lakers. Hayward torched the Lakers for 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting in Utahs 107-102 victory on Monday night.Such a performance is not out of the ordinary. Hayward has averaged 31.7 points per game over Utahs last three home games while shooting 52 percent from the field. Jazz coach Quin Snyder points to an expansion of Haywards postgame as a reason behind him taking another step forward as a scorer.He added a comfort level in the post that, I think, is still going to improve, Snyder said following the teams 105-98 win over Denver on Saturday. Hes shooting off screens, so hes able to score multiple ways when someone takes something away.Haywards ability to attack a defense in so many different ways has transformed Utah (13-9) into a better offensive team this season. The Jazz have occasional stretches where they are paralyzed by long-term scoring droughts. Still, it is no longer a defining characteristic that it had been at times over the past few seasons.With Hayward setting the tone, his teammates feel like they can get more than enough going on offense to complement their stout defense.He makes everything click, guard Rodney Hood said. His aggressiveness in going to the basket, knocking down shots, passing the bball.dddddddddddd He does a lot for our team. We feed off that.Stopping Hayward represents the latest challenge for a beleaguered Phoenix Suns defense. Phoenix (6-14) hit a low point during a 138-109 loss to Golden State on Saturday. The Warriors shot 66.7 percent from 3-point range (14 of 21) over four quarters. It represented their highest percentage since shooting 68.8 percent at Cleveland on Jan. 29, 2013.Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson led the way in torching the Suns from the perimeter. Curry and Thompson combined to make 11-of-14 from distance and they finished with 31 points and 26 points, respectively.Phoenixs offense wasnt able to keep up with the explosion that it couldnt contain on defense.Offensively, we were stagnant, guard Devin Booker said. We werent moving the ball well, and thats what happens when you play good teams. They played good team defense.The Suns will need more from both sides of the ball in Salt Lake City. They have allowed 121.7 points per game over their last three games. Phoenix will also need big games from Booker and Eric Bledsoe against a Jazz backcourt that has played without injured George Hill over the last three games. Bledsoe is averaging 19.3 points for the Suns, while Booker is scoring 19.2 points per contest.Utah swept Phoenix a season ago, winning all four games between the two teams for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. ' ' '