NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguezs record-breaking grand slam was a big one for the Yankees, who can only hope it came in time for a last-gasp run at the playoffs. Cheap Panthers Jerseys . Rodriguez set a major league mark with his 24th career slam, passing Lou Gehrig with a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning that sent New York to a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. "It means Im getting old," said Rodriguez, 38. "Its hard to think about things like that right now. Were really on a sprint to the end here and every win is huge for us." A-Rods drive helped CC Sabathia (14-13) beat Tim Lincecum in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners having subpar seasons. More importantly for the Yankees, it carried them to their second win in seven games as they cling to faint playoff hopes. New York, which has eight games remaining, pulled within three of the second AL wild card -- with three other teams in between. The Indians 2-1 rain-shortened win over Houston, moved them a half-game ahead of Texas, which began the day tied with Tampa Bay atop the standings but lost 2-1 to Kansas City. The Rays beat Baltimore in 18 innings to keep the lead. "Its an unbelievable accomplishment and its a big one for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I dont know if we can afford to lose any more games." Alfonso Soriano also homered and New York opened its final homestand with a much-needed victory, hours after pitcher Andy Pettitte announced his plans to retire -- again -- following this season. The news about Pettitte hardly came as a surprise, but the 41-year-old lefty put to rest any speculation he might be back next season. Pettitte, who stepped off the mound for a year before returning in 2012, is scheduled to start the series finale Sunday -- the same day the Yankees will honour retiring closer Mariano Rivera in a pregame ceremony. Rookie outfielder Juan Perez, back home in the Bronx, hit an RBI double for the Giants. The defending World Series champions have spent all week in New York -- they took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field, where a large throng of vocal San Francisco fans made them feel right at home. Giants rooters came out in the Bronx, too, easy to spot in their orange or black jerseys. An audible chant of "Lets go Giants!" quickly drew boos from Yankees fans in the crowd of 41,734. "Theres a lot of Giants fans here. I noticed that. They travel well," Rodriguez said. With the score tied at 1, Eduardo Nunez grounded a single through the right side to start the seventh. Lincecum (10-14) hit Brendan Ryan with a pitch and walked Ichiro Suzuki with two outs, loading the bases and ending the right-handers night. Rodriguez, hampered by a sore leg lately, reached out and lofted a 2-1 pitch from George Kontos toward the hitter-friendly dimensions in right field for his 654th career homer and seventh this season. "Just tough to watch and tough to put somebody in that kind of situation," Lincecum said. "Just wasted a lot of pitches that inning, didnt attack the zone as much as the previous six, and I felt like I couldve gotten out of that better than what happened." The hit snapped a 1-for-25 slide for A-Rod, who returned Aug. 5 from hip surgery. It was his 14th slam for the Yankees, moving him ahead of Joe DiMaggio for second place on the franchise list behind Gehrig. "Im a huge fan of Lou Gehrig, everything hes done, going back to his college days in New York," Rodriguez said. "Hes kind of the gold standard for a Yankee. Special moment. Ill think about it someday." Sabathia was pulled after a leadoff single in the eighth and walked off to a warm ovation. David Robertson got Perez to ground into a double play, and Rivera worked a perfect ninth. But it was Rodriguez who delivered the big blow. "Unbelievable -- especially at that moment. He came up big for us again," Sabathia said. "Hopefully we can just keep getting big hits like that and keep winning games." Lincecum, who had won four straight decisions, was looking for his first five-game winning streak since early in the 2010 season. He was charged with four runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He threw 66 of 121 pitches for strikes. "He pitched great," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Its some tough luck there in that last inning." NOTES: Giants CF Angel Pagan was rested in favour of Perez. ... DH Buster Posey singled in the sixth to end a 1-for-23 skid on the road trip. ... Rodriguezs previous slam came in Atlanta on June 12 last year. ... Looking to spark his struggling lineup, Girardi moved a slumping Suzuki into the leadoff spot, partly because he had faced Lincecum several times in the past few years. ... LHP Boone Logan (elbow) was available, Girardi said. ... After the Yankees got in late following Thursday nights loss at Toronto, C Chris Stewart was rested in favour of rookie J.R. Murphy. "Physically, I just think its too hard," Girardi said. Custom Florida Panthers Jerseys . Tottenham claimed top spot in Group K by winning 2-0 at Tromso after defender Adnan Causevic scored an own goal before Mousa Dembele put the result beyond doubt. Valencia made sure it will finish first in Group A with a 1-0 win at Swansea thanks to an early goal from Dani Parejo. Florida Panthers Store .com) - Quarterback Cardale Jones will return to Ohio State next season. https://www.panthersjerseycheap.com/ . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday.PRETORIA, South Africa -- For two days, the witness in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius kept her composure. Then, just as her testimony was about to finish, she broke down in tears at what she said was the memory of the screams she heard on the night that the double-amputee athlete fatally shot his girlfriend in his South African home. Michelle Burger, a neighbour of Pistorius who took the stand on the second day of a trial watched around the world, remained calm through intense questioning by the chief defence lawyer. In a final exchange with the lead prosecutor on Tuesday, however, emotion washed over her as she recalled what she described as the terrified screams of a woman early on Valentines Day last year. "When Im in the shower, I relive her shouts," Burger said in an apparent reference to her trauma just after the shooting, when a police captain took her statement. When Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor, asked her about her emotions at the time, she said the experience was "quite raw" and her voice broke. Nel asked her how she was coping now. "Im coping fine," Burger insisted. "Its been a year." Burger, a university lecturer, lives 177 metres (193 yards) from Pistorius house, where his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, died in what the runner said was an accident. Burger testified that she heard a man and a woman shouting, then the sound of four gunshots. She said the womans screams continued during the gunshots and quickly faded away after the final one. She was the first witness called by the prosecution, which contends that Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp after a loud argument. Her testimony contradicts Pistorius account. He says he fired four times through the toilet cubicle door, hitting Steenkamp three times in the head, arm and hip or side area after thinking she was a dangerous intruder. He has pleaded not guilty. The defence contends that Burger may have been asleep when the gunshots were fired, and then mistakenly thought she was hearing gunfire when in fact it was the sound of Pistorius breaking the toilet cubicle door with a cricket bat after realizing he had shot his girlfriend. During cross-examination of Burger, chief defence lawyer Barry Roux suggested that she was mistaken in saying that she heard a woman screaming and that it was actually Pistorius shouting for help in a high voice after accidentally shooting Steenkamp. Giving sometimes grisly details of the killing of the 29-year-old model, Roux said Steenkamp was shot in the head, which would have resulted in brain damage and "no cognitive function" and so she wouldnt have been able too scream just after the last bullet struck, as Burger testified. Panthers Jerseys China. Roux said that an expert would later testify in the trial that "with the head shot, she (Steenkamp) would have dropped down immediately." Burger disagreed. "I heard her voice just after the last shot," she said. "It faded away." Her husband, Charl Johnson, also testified that "the last scream faded moments after the last gunshot was fired." Burger also said that the man she heard -- before the sound of the gunfire -- was calling for help, a piece of testimony that muddied the prosecutions narrative that Pistorius was the aggressor. Challenged by Roux, Burger speculated that perhaps the voice was that of Pistorius ridiculing Steenkamps calls for help. "Was it a mockery? I dont know. Im not Mr. Pistorius," she said. Pistorius, who faces a minimum of 25 years in prison without parole if convicted of premeditated murder, took notes during testimony and huddled with lawyers during adjournments. His collected demeanour contrasted with his sometimes distraught behaviour during a bail hearing last year, when he sobbed in court. At one point on Tuesday he covered his ears, but it wasnt clear why. Pistorius, 27, was born without fibula bones because of a congenital defect and his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. He has run on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He was later cleared to compete. He is a multiple Paralympic medallist but he failed to win a medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Steenkamps mother, June, said in a television interview that she did not want to live with bitterness. "Ive lost everything thats important to me, and still, I can forgive. I can forgive," she told NBCs "Today" show. "One must forgive." June Steenkamp was in court Monday, hoping to look Pistorius in the eye. But, she said, Pistorius "never looked my way, or he didnt have an opportunity to do that." Judge Thokozile Masipa will ultimately deliver the verdict and decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Tuesdays proceedings were interrupted when Masipa ordered an investigation into allegations that a South African television channel was broadcasting a photograph of Burger during her testimony -- against a court order guaranteeing privacy to witnesses who request it. "I am warning the media," the judge said, "if you do not behave, you are not going to be treated with soft gloves by this court." ' ' '