Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire

Melky Cabrera is one of the reasons why the Yankees have made great strides on defense this season.

By Peter Gammons, ESPN

Flawless defense and pitching are always interwoven, and this has finally happened in New York. When the Yankees broke the Red Sox's record for errorless games Monday night against the Cleveland Indians, it wasn't a testament to brilliant, athletic defense, like the Cardinals of Whitey Herzog days. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said it perfectly: "We make the plays we're supposed to." However, their errorless streak was snapped on Tuesday night, after they committed one in a 12-3 rout over the Rangers.

Recently, the Yankees have gone on a big-time roll and taken first place in the AL East, all after the return of Alex Rodriguez. However, the key difference hasn't been offense, although the tandem of A-Rod and Mark Teixeira is similar to what David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez once were with Boston. With A-Rod and Teixeira in the order, the Yankees' runs per game have only risen slightly. The Yankees' ERA, though, has dropped by more than two runs, as CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain and Co. have come together as a power rotation.

The Yankees' rotation is made up of hard throwers who get minimal hard contact, and put little pressure on the defense. Teixeira, the owner of two Gold Gloves, has made the infield much better, and Melky Cabrera's defensive matrix is the best of any major league center fielder. Last year, the Yankees were near the bottom in defensive efficiency, but this year they are 13th out of 30 major league teams.

The Tampa Bay Rays went from the worst defensive efficiency in 2007 to the best in 2008. This year, with their rotation struggling, they are 18th. Making it even worse for the Rays is that they are now without their middle infield combo of Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura, both on the disabled list. In 2008, the Red Sox were in the top five, this year they are in the bottom three, with the left side a cavernous hole.

As the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees square off in the Bronx in a battle of first-place teams, pitching and defense will have a major impact on how much the lineups can get away with.

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TOUCH 'EM ALL

Who went deep? Keep track of all the home runs hit each day on "Baseball Tonight" and on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page.

For more, check out the Home Run Tracker page.

Home Run Tracker
NAME	HR	OPP	PITCHER	SITUATION
A. Rowand, SF	6	Was	Stammen	Top 1: 1-1, 0 Outs. None on.
A. Soriano, ChC	13	Atl	Kawakami	Top 1: 2-2, 0 Outs. None on.
J. Guillen, KC	5	TB	Sonnanstine	Top 2: 1-0, 1 Outs. None on.
J. Bard, Was	1	SF	Lincecum	Bot 2: 0-0, 1 Outs. None on.
A. Rios, Tor	7	LAA	Saunders	Bot 4: 1-1, 0 Outs. None on.
J. Bay, Bos	16	Det	Porcello	Top 3: 0-1, 1 Outs. 1 on.
D. Uggla, Fla	10	Mil	Parra	Bot 2: 2-1, 0 Outs. 1 on.
N. Cruz, Tex	15	NYY	Burnett	Top 3: 1-0, 2 Outs. 2 on.
B. Zobrist, TB	9	KC	Davies	Bot 4: 0-1, 1 Outs. 1 on.

The complete list of Tuesday's homers

ON DECK: WEDNESDAY'S BEST MATCHUPS

Giants at Nationals, 7 p.m. ET

Randy Johnson goes for career win No. 300. He has already beaten Washington once this year, though it wasn't exactly pretty. The Giants beat the Nationals 11-7 on May 11, and Johnson picked up the win, despite giving up four runs in just five innings of work. The Big Unit did strike out nine without permitting a walk.

Red Sox at Tigers, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN

After an ugly April, Josh Beckett did not lose in May. Beckett went 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA this past month. How big a difference was it from April? Well, in April he was 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA in 28 2/3 innings, allowing 23 earned runs. In 34 May innings, he allowed just nine runs.

Rangers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET

The two pitchers heading to the mound at Yankee Stadium, Andy Pettitte and Scott Feldman, are a combined 9-1 this season. Feldman (4-0) has not allowed more than three runs in an outing since April 9. Pettitte (5-1) has given up eight homers this year, with seven coming at home.

For the rest of Tuesday's schedule, click here.