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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Matt Garza wants to make the Texas Rangers proud that they long coveted having him in their rotation. The big right-hander made quite an impression when he finally pitched in a Texas uniform. "Same thing Ive always saw when he pitched against us," manager Ron Washington said. "The guy can execute pitches. He never gets rattled." Garza pitched into the eighth inning of his Rangers debut, two days after getting traded from the Chicago Cubs. The only run he allowed was unearned after his throwing error in a 3-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. "Im excited. I couldnt be more happy being in a place where Im at, a place where Im wanted, been wanted. Its awesome," Garza said. "I felt good. I just wanted to throw strikes." Garza (1-0) was 6-1 in his 11 starts this season for the Cubs. He was 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA his last six starts for Chicago, winning the last five. After giving up consecutive singles to start his first game in a Rangers jersey, Garza retired 15 of the next 16 batters before his throwing error on Brett Gardners comebacker leading off the sixth. He finished with five strikeouts and no walks, throwing 66 of 95 pitches for strikes. "Pounded the zone with vengeance," Washington said. "He was as advertised," said David Murphy, who homered for Texas. "Weve seen him do it before. It was impressive to see him attack the zone like that." A.J. Pierzynski drove in two runs for Texas, including a tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the sixth off Andy Pettitte (7-8). The Rangers were interested in Garza when Tampa Bay traded him to Chicago after the 2010 season. They also inquired about him last summer before he missed the last two months with a stress reaction in his right elbow. He missed the first seven weeks this season because of a strained left lat muscle. "Hes got good stuff. He has a very good fastball and slider. We hit some balls hard, but right at them," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He gave up hits to the first two batters and got out of the inning, and he kind of got on a roll after that." Gardners comebacker leading off the sixth rolled away from Garza even though the pitcher was able to get a glove on it. He scrambled to grab the ball, but threw awkwardly off his knee well wide of first base. The speedy Gardner was credited with an infield single and got to third on the errant throw. Garza then snagged Ichiro Suzukis comebacker for an out before Robinson Cano lined a single over second baseman Ian Kinslers head to tie the game at 1. Walking off the mound after the inning, Garza was clearly frustrated at himself. He already felt better soon after that, pumping his arms in the air and slapping his hands together when Pierzynski hit his 10th homer. "Its just I kept turning. I didnt stop myself from sliding, thats why I didnt let the ball go too well. ... Caught me off guard, its one of those things " Garza said. "But I made sure I got the next guy out and so close to not letting them score. Thats what I was a little (mad) about." Neal Cotts retired all four batters he faced before Joe Nathan got the final out for his 32nd save in 34 chances. The All-Star closer rebounded from the previous night when he gave up two runs in the ninth of a 5-4 loss to the Yankees. Pettitte allowed eight hits and two runs while pitching into the seventh. The 41-year-old left-hander struck out two and walked one. "Pierzynski killed him. He usually handles lefties well. He left a slider down but kind of in the middle of the plate, and he hit it out," Girardi said. "We just need to get (Pettitte) some runs." The Rangers quickly led 1-0 after Ian Kinsler had a leadoff single, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Elvis Andrus and scored on a single by Pierzynski. It was the second time in three games this series they scored a run in the first inning, after 10 consecutive games without a run in the initial frame. NOTES: Even with the victory for the Rangers, it was the 27th day in a row they failed to gain ground in the AL West since Oakland won 4-3 at Houston earlier Wednesday. The Rangers have gone from a half-game lead to three games back in that span. ... Rangers opening day starter Matt Harrison threw live BP, facing hitters for the first time since April. The lefty has been on the DL and had two back surgeries since his last start April 6. Harrison says he felt good and is expected to throw BP again Saturday in Cleveland. ... Yankees OF Curtis Granderson (broken pinkie) said he will start a minor league rehab assignment Thursday night with Class A Tampa and will evaluated at the end of the weekend. Evgenii Dadonov Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. Florida Panthers Jerseys . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/customized/ . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Aleksander Barkov Jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Vincent Trocheck Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Every morning when Penrith flyer Josh Mansour wakes up, he looks at the green and gold jersey hanging on his wall and resolves that hes got unfinished business.Preparing for Saturdays NRL semi-final against Canberra, Mansours scintillating form has him poised to take care of that business by ending a two-year absence from the Australian squad.The 26-year-old made four Test appearances for the Kangaroos during their unsuccessful 2014 Four Nations campaign.Critics would say that Kangaroos team was racked by injury and Mansour was lucky to have made his international debut, with the likes of Billy Slater, Justin Hodges, Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Josh Dugan and Will Hopoate among the big names to miss the tournament.However he has no time for such talk and his Australian jumper takes pride of place on his bedroom wall.Absolutely, says Mansour when asked if suggestions that he didnt really earn his international debut were unfair.To play with those players like Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis, that gave me a lot of confidence.But the most important thing is youre representing your country, theres no higher honour than that.Now Mansour is close to earning back his place in that squad and doing what few have achieved in recent years - pushing Semi Radradra out of his way.ddddddddddddOn the back of a stellar season, which saw him earn his NSW debut, Mansour is poised to displace injury and drama-plagued Parramatta winger Radradra and grab the left wing position for Australias end-of-season Four Nations tour of England.He has been a tower of strength for the Panthers this season and a big reason behind their charge to within two games of the grand final.He has managed the second-ost metres of all players this year (174m per game), only behind Warriors fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (who averaged 175m from just 11 games before being struck down with injury).He holds the joint league lead for linebreaks (25), is fourth for tackle busts (111) and is seventh on the try-scoring list with 16, according to Fox Sports Stats.He described earning an Australian jumper as the most important milestone in his career and a summit he hoped to visit again.Its one of the most special moments of my career and one that I will definitely look back on with pride, Mansour said.I just want to achieve it again, I just want to keep working hard for it. 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