Mark Teixeira’s third-inning grand slam last night provided more runs than the Yankees offense scored for days at a time last week.
But after owner Hal Steinbrenner challenged his team to find a way to score runs, it was only part of the Bombers’ response in a 7-4 win over the Indians at the Stadium.
After Andy Pettitte was knocked out in the fifth inning when he gave up the 4-1 lead Teixeira’s blast provided, the Yankees found a way to come up with two more against Cleveland starter Justin Masterson in the sixth.
“We’re right in the middle of the fight and it’s gonna continue,”
Steinbrenner said before the game. “But we do need to start hitting, no doubt about it. They know that.”
Brett Gardner’s two-run single put the Yankees up, with some help from Masterson, who made a baffling decision in the field that led to an extra run.
Ichiro Suzuki started the inning with a walk and moved to second on David Adams’ slow groundout to third. Reid Brignac struck out, but the struggling Austin Romine came up with a two-out single when his hard comebacker bounced off Masterson’s shoulder for an infield hit.
The slow-footed Romine then stole second without a throw, putting him in scoring position for Gardner. The center fielder laced a single up the middle to knock in Ichiro. Though Michael Brantley’s throw home looked as if it might get there in time to nail Romine, Masterson — who was standing in front of the plate instead of backing it up — cut the ball off, allowing Romine to score.
The hit helped make a winner of Shawn Kelley, who got the final out of the fifth inning and retired the side in order in the sixth.
Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera — who notched his 20th save — each contributed an inning of scoreless relief, helping overcome an underwhelming return from Pettitte.
The lefty pitched for the first time since leaving his last start on May 16 with spasms near his upper back.
He surrendered just one run until the fifth but could not get out of the inning — in part because of ineffectiveness, in part because he was at 83 pitches and was on a pitch count of 90.
Pettitte still held a 4-2 lead when Asdrubal Cabrera was injured trying to beat out a grounder to second.
The quad injury was severe enough to delay the game for several minutes, and after the shortstop was helped off the field, Pettitte wasn’t the same.
He issued four-pitch walks to Nick Swisher and Mark Reynolds, prompting a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Carlos Santana ended Pettitte’s night with a ground-rule double that went down the line and ricocheted off third baseman David Adams’ glove, knocking in two.
Travis Hafner’s solo homer in the seventh wrapped up the scoring as the Yankees won for just the second time in nine games.
The notoriously slow-starting Teixeira had just one hit in nine at-bats going into last night after missing most of the first two months of the season rehabbing a right wrist injury.
“I think sometimes it takes guys a little bit of time,” manager Joe Girardi said. “When it’s the month of April, it’s always magnified. So for the first three days a guy comes back, everything is magnified and it will be that way for the first couple of weeks.”
He helped take care of that with one swing of the bat.
dan.martin@nypost.com