Lilly was effective, allowing four hits and no walks over 6 1/3 innings, but three of the hits were solo home runs, giving the Rangers all of the offense they would need to down the first-place Bombers. The last 15 home runs given up by Yankees pitchers have been solo shots.

"It's frustrating for him, we didn't give him a whole lot to work with," said Yankees Manager Joe Torre. "We gave him a couple of leads, but only one run. This ballclub is explosive, but I thought he hung in there pretty well. Unfortunately, the hits he gave up were home runs. He took a loss, but I was impressed with the way he pitched."

"I feel good about the way that I threw the ball. I did a lot of things that I wanted to do, but at the same time, I made mistakes that cost us the game," said Lilly, whose record fell to 3-4. "I'm in between about the way I threw. I need to understand that I did throw the ball well, but made too many mistakes."

The Yankees staked Lilly to a 1-0 lead in the fourth, as Shane Spencer singled Bernie Williams home after Williams reached on an error by third baseman Mike Lamb.

Lilly, who was perfect through four innings, threw an 0-1 fastball that Palmeiro took into the upper deck in right field for his 28th homer of the season, tying the game 1-1. The young lefty settled down, retiring six of the next seven batters.

New York took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as Chuck Knoblauch's triple off Texas starter Darren Oliver plated Todd Greene all the way from first. The hit extended Knoblauch's hitting streak to 12 games.

Lilly, who struck out seven batters through six innings, appeared to be in control as the game headed for the seventh. But after A-Rod and I-Rod's solo shots gave Texas a 3-2 lead, Torre called on the reliable Ramiro Mendoza to put out the fire.

"He's got good stuff and he's sneaky," said A-Rod of Lilly. "He made me look bad in a few situations but I finally got the timing. It was good to finally get to him. He dominated us for six innings."

Mendoza didn't get the job done, as Gabe Kapler singled and Craig Monroe walked, prompting Torre to bring in Mike Stanton to face ex-Yankee Ricky Ledee with two on and two out.

Ledee doubled to right off Stanton, bringing Kapler home to boost the lead to 4-2. Stanton retired Michael Young to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

Oliver matched Lilly for the most part, giving up just two runs (one earned) on six hits over seven innings to a team that had racked up 30 runs on 43 hits in its last three games. New York had outscored its opponents 68-25 during their winning streak.

"He's mixing up his speeds, we swung the bats well, but they played good defense, especially their outfielders," said Derek Jeter, who went 1-for-4 with a double. "When he got into jams, he pitched out of them. He did what he usually does."

Lilly, who struck out eight and walked none on the night, could only tip his hat when asked about his opponent, who improved to 9-6.

"Oliver went out there and made it tough on us tonight," Lilly said. "It's a game where you can't afford to make too many mistakes like that, and I did."

"It's tough against this ballclub to say that you shouldn't give up home runs," said Torre. "I can't call them rookie mistakes, they were all (solo home runs). I was impressed after he gave up the home run to A-Rod that he settled in and struck out Palmeiro. I can't find a lot of fault in what he did tonight."

Texas added two runs in the ninth, after Yankees reliever Mark Wohlers almost got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs. Jay Witasick had allowed the first three batters to reach base.

With the infield in, Wohlers got Ledee to ground into a 3-2-3 double play, bringing the Yankees one out from escaping the inning unharmed. But Young singled to left, scoring two runs to give the Rangers a 6-2 lead.

"Bases loaded, nobody out, he gets the double play which was a huge out," Torre said. "Then he gives up the base hit, which throws a wet blanket on that. He's throwing the ball good, he just made a bad pitch."

The Yankees attempted a ninth-inning comeback, as Paul O'Neill doubled and Greene walked, bringing Alfonso Soriano to the plate with the tying run on-deck and two outs. But Texas turned to closer Jeff Zimmerman, who got Soriano to fly out to right, ending the contest -- and New York's winning streak. The save was Zimmerman's 21st of the season.

"It only shows the heart and the desire of our ballclub," Young said. "Tonight we did it against a tough and resilient team that is battle-tested. We executed what we had to do and got a big win."

New York was without the services of starting first baseman Tino Martinez and catcher Jorge Posada. Martinez was hit below the eye by a ball during batting practice, and should be in the lineup on Wednesday. Posada, who came to the ballpark with some type of stomach illness, will be evaluated on Wednesday to determine his availability.

Sterling Hitchcock will make his 2001 Yankees debut on Wednesday, just two days after being acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres. The Rangers counter with right-hander Rob Bell.