=== New York Yankees Team Report - May 31 ===

(My Sportsbook) - They're back where they belong, as far as the Yankees are concerned. And that place just happens to be at the top of the standings in the American League East.

On Friday night Jose Contreras pitched seven innings of two-hit shutout ball in his first major league start and Jason Giambi hit a pair of homers, lifting the Yankees to a 6-0 victory over Detroit in the series opener.

Derek Jeter added two hits and two runs batted in for the Yankees, who have won three straight and moved back into first place in the AL East -- one-half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who dropped a 13-2 decision at Toronto. Giambi finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.

Contreras limited the Tigers to a fifth-inning double and a seventh-inning single. He walked one and struck out six, throwing just 81 pitches.

The Cuban righthander was given a chance to start because David Wells is bothered by a calf injury. Contreras did not win a spot in the rotation out of spring training and had struggled out of the bullpen in the first month of the season. He was sent to work on his mechanics at the team's minor league complex in Tampa, then went to Triple-A Columbus where he was 2-0 with a 1.20 earned run average in three starts.

Contreras became the sixth Yankee starter of the season. The club had gone an AL-record 53 games without a change to the original starting five. The 1998 Twins went 48 games. The previous longest for the Yankees was 25 games in 1988 (Rick Rhoden, Richard Dotson, John Candelaria, Al Leiter and Tommy John).

Jeff Weaver takes the hill for the Yankees this afternoon, his first-ever action against Detroit in his career, a team which he began with in 1999 and briefly returned to in 2002 following his first stint with New York.

The 26-year-old righthander's last outing came against Toronto on Sunday as he lasted five innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits and a walk while walking three in a loss to the Blue Jays.

As a member of the Tigers, Weaver posted a record of 39-51, and was never able to end a single campaign with a winning record in the process.

Yankee hitters are batting a combined .274 after 54 games and are second in the league in home runs with 80. Alfonso Soriano is tied for the league lead with 16 homers and is also the top base stealer on the club with 14, getting caught just twice.

New York dominated the series with Detroit last year, winning eight of their nine encounters, including the final four.

The Yankees are 19-7 on the road this season, the best mark in the majors, while the Tigers are a dismal 4-20 at home, by far the worst record in all of baseball.