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NEW YORK -- Tyler Austin wasnt sure if Yankees manager Joe Girardi would let him face a right-hander in the ninth inning.Switch-hitting veteran Mark Teixeira was still on the bench, and the right-handed hitting Austin isnt far removed from a long slump.Girardi stuck with the rookie, and he came through, helping the Baby Bombers continue their unlikely push into postseason contention.Austin hit a solo homer in the ninth to give New York its season-high fifth straight victory, 5-4 over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.Brian McCann hit two homers for the Yankees, who moved a season-high nine games over .500 (74-65).After blowing three leads during the first six innings, New York moved within two games of Baltimore for the second AL wild card and four games of AL East-leading Boston. Resurgent New York plays 20 of its remaining 23 games against division opponents, putting it in position to compete despite selling off key pieces at the Aug. 1 deadline.I think everybody in this clubhouse believes that we can make a push at this thing and get in the postseason, Austin said. Its an exciting time right now.Austin homered off Erasmo Ramirez (7-11) on a 3-2 pitch for his third homer since being called up Aug. 13. Teammates met him at home plate by dousing him with water in a raucous celebration.That was a huge team win for us, Austin said, and a special moment.A long one coming, too. Injuries and poor performance slowed Austins climb through the minors, and in 2015, he was demoted from Triple-A to Double-A during the season. He opened back at Double-A Trenton again this season, a disappointing assignment, but then forced his way to the majors with his bat.I didnt give up, kept battling and you know, here we are, he said.After homering in his big league debut, Austin entered a 4-for-33 slump that ended Sunday. He since has a five-game hitting streak.Girardi decided to let the 25-year-old Austin bat because Ramirez has better numbers against left-handed hitters.And hes in the game, Girardi said of Austin. A lot of times its a lot easier if youre in the game.The pesky Rays kept coming back, getting two homers each from Kevin Kiermaier and Steven Souza by the sixth. This was the first game this season in which three players had multiple homers, per the Elias Sports Bureau.MAC ATTACKMcCanns homer in the second landed in the luxury suites just below the third deck in right field. His second put the Yankees up 4-3 in the fourth, giving him 19 for the season.The left-handed slugger is one shy of his ninth straight 20-homer season and 10th overall but entered on a 3-for-20 slide.You want to pull your weight around here, McCann said. For a large part of the season, I havent been doing that. So tonight was nice to get to some baseballs and backspin them.WELCOME ABOARDTampa Bay hit four homers after being joined by new hitting coach Chad Mottola earlier in the day. Mottola was promoted from minor league hitting coordinator after Tampa Bay fired Derek Shelton on Tuesday.Kiermaier homered twice in the first three innings, setting a career high with his 11th homer in the third. Hes hit safely in a career-best 12 straight games, the longest streak by a Ray this season.Souza had his third multihomer game of the season, and second at Yankee Stadium.`PEN GAMESNew York had to use five relievers on a night when its bullpen was already short-handed. Girardi hoped to avoid using Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard, Adam Warren and Luis Severino, so he had to dig deep in the bullpen when CC Sabathia went just four innings, allowing three homers while throwing 87 pitches.Girardi was still aggressive matching up his left-handed relievers, including when Tommy Layne (2-1) entered and struck out pinch-hitter Logan Morrison to end the ninth.BACK IN THE GROOVEAlex Cobb made his second start since having Tommy John surgery and allowed four runs over six innings. He gave up two homers and threw 89 pitches.Hes around the strike zone, extremely efficient, kept his pitch count down, gave us every opportunity to win, manager Kevin Cash said.A SMALL PARTYThe paid attendance was 27,631, under 30,000 for just the second time at Yankee Stadium -- the first was 27,532 on Tuesday. That was the first time under 30,000 since 2004.BALK BACKUmpires called Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder for a balk that let in a run in the fifth inning, then overturned the call.Holder motioned with his glove for McCann to show him the signs again, and first base umpire Jordan Baker called a balk, allowing Logan Forsythe to score from third.The Yankees argued, and the umpires conferred before overturning the decision.TO THE BALLOTSThe Staten Island Yankees, one of New Yorks Class-A affiliates, are holding a fan vote to decide on a new team name. The options are: Bridge Trolls, Island Heroes, Killer Bees, Pizza Rats and Rock Pigeons.TRAINING ROOMRays: SS Matt Duffy will have surgery Friday on his left heel. Dr. Bob Anderson, team orthopedist for the NFLs Carolina Panthers, will perform the operation. ... RHP Chase Whitley is expected to return following Tommy John surgery in one of the next three games. Whitley pitched for the Yankees in 2014 and `15 but was placed on waivers and claimed by Tampa Bay last November while recovering from the surgery.UP NEXTRays: Rookie LHP Blake Snell (5-7, 3.39) starts vs. New York on Friday night. He struck out seven over six innings of one-run ball in a win against Toronto last time out and has a 2.61 ERA in two starts against New York this season.Yankees: RHP Michael Pineda (6-11, 5.10) pitches against Tampa Bay. Pineda is 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA over his past three starts.Kevin Durant Shoes Deal . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Cheap Nike KD 12 Shoes . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. http://www.cheapkdshoesclearance.com/ . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. Cheap Nike Kd 9 .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Discount Kevin Durant . PETERSBURG, Fla.Tim Cahill says Melbourne City have eyed off the FFA Cup since pre-season as a way to break through for the clubs maiden piece of silverware.City host the final against Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Wednesday night, and whoever the winner, a drought will be broken.The Sky Blues havent lifted a trophy since claiming the 2010 A-League championship across town at Etihad Stadium in a penalty shootout success over Melbourne Victory.City, then Melbourne Heart, came into existence a few months later and this week play in their first final.Its only natural then that Cahills club is taking the match as seriously as any in their seven-year history.The match is being played at AAMI Park after City made a successful pitch to FFA for hosting rights.Executives from parent organisation City Football Group are in Melbourne for the match, after previously talking up the season as a year to deliver on the weighty investments made.At the season launch in October, club vice chairman Simon Pearce told the audience he knew rather than believed that success would come to the club.On Tuesday morning, Cahill said everyone at the club understood the imperative to be successful this season.Its defiinitely something that was on the menu at the start of the season when we talked about where we wanted to be and what we wanted to go for, he told SEN radio.dddddddddddd.To be in this position is excellent and its now about executing tomorrow night.Cahill said two factors were crucial in achieving that success; a cultural shift and a new-found strength in depth.Demanding success and trophies is one thing, he said.One of the biggest things about our football club is changing the culture.You can see the style of football were playing week in week out. Were progressing. Were improving.Silverware will definitely be the icing on the cake but improvement of the football club is first and foremost.The all-time Socceroos leading scorer said the sides bench against Wellington on Sunday, when they won 2-1, showed the unbelievable talent at coach John van t Schips disposal.We had Thomas Sorensen, myself, Manny Muscat, Bruce (Kamau) and (Nicolas) Colazo coming off the bench and youve still got Paulo Retre and Osama Malik that werent involved, he said. ' ' '