Published: August 06, 2008 10:07 am      

Hamilton, Harrison help Rangers beat Yankees 8-6

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The New York Yankees used to be able to count on a successful road trip to Texas. Now they’re sitting on two straight Lone Star losses.

Josh Hamilton hit his 27th homer, rookie Matt Harrison pitched into the seventh inning and the Texas Rangers hung on for an 8-6 win over the Yankees on Tuesday night.

Texas ended a 10-game home losing streak to the Yankees on Monday night, 9-5. On Tuesday night, the Yankees got closer, but they still couldn’t contain the highest scoring offense in the majors.

‘‘These were two hard losses, games we had a chance to win,’’ manager Joe Girardi said. ‘‘You’ve got to put it behind you.’’

New York has dropped seven of 10 and fell 6 1/2 games behind AL-East leading Tampa Bay.

‘‘With 49 games remaining, every game is important,’’ Alex Rodriguez said. ‘‘You can’t panic but you have to take it with a sense of urgency.’’