By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — The Yankees clawed their way back from the brink of elimination with a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.
Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia bounced back from a poor Game 1 start to hold the red-hot Rangers to two runs in six innings.
New York ended a three-game losing streak as they try to rally from a 3-1 series deficit. Only six of the last 30 teams to fall into a 3-1 hole in the ALCS have come back to win the series.
"We look forward to this, one game at a time," catcher Jorge Posada told the New York Post.
The Bronx Bombers stagnant offense finally got going in Game 5. New York scored early, posting three runs in the second inning and then got two in the third thanks to back-to-back home runs from Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano.
"We’re right where we need to be," Swisher told the Associated Press.
The Rangers made Sabathia work in the sixth inning by loading the bases, but the Yankees lefty only yielded one run before working out of the jam.
Reliever Kerry Wood kept the Rangers in check by pitching a scoreless seventh and eighth innings in relief of Sabathia. Closer Mariano Rivera, pitching for the first time in five days, closed out the ninth inning for the Yankees.
Curtis Graderson hit a home run in the eighth inning to pad the lead for New York.
Phil Hughes will pitch Game 6 for the Yankees as the series moves back to Texas on Friday. Right hander Colby Lewis will take the mound for the Rangers.
"It’s going to be tough, but we are looking forward to it," Posada added.
