OAKLAND – El Duque had bled his arsenal dry with two outs in the sixth and Joe Torre figured he had gotten every ounce out of his right-hander. So, with the Yankees leading the A’s, 7-2, Torre called for Mike Stanton to put out a mild threat.

FP Santangelo’s ground-rule double to center had given the A’s runners on second and third and two outs but Stanton retired Johnny Damon on a grounder back to the mound to kill the threat.

After Miguel Tejada opened the seventh with a single, Stanton was looking at Jason Giambi, who beat Stanton with a walk-off homer in August at the Coliseum.

“That was a long time ago,” Stanton said. “He put a good swing on a pitch I was just trying to get over for a strike. It had no bearing on today whatsoever.”

Stanton fanned Giambi with a 2-2 fastball and got Ron Gant and Terrence Long on fly balls to center.

Stanton’s 12/3 innings of scoreless relief was matched by Ramiro Mendoza.