Alex Rodriguez, Bernie Williams and Chien-Ming Wang did their part to step up for the New York Yankees on the first day after Hideki Matsui's injury.

Rodriguez and Williams homered, and Wang pitched three-hit ball for eight innings in New York's 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

Matsui had surgery Friday to repair his left wrist, broken Thursday night when he tried for a diving catch against Boston. Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Torre and center fielder Johnny Damon said New York's other players would have to bear down and focus.

Rodriguez, booed in his first two at-bats after striking out, pulled an off-speed pitch from Barry Zito (2-3) over the wall in left-center, near the 399-foot sign. Before the homer, Rodriguez was hitting .210 (13-for-62) in his career against Zito - including a grand slam in New York's season-opening 15-2 win at Oakland.

Williams added his second homer of the season in the eighth, a drive off former Yankee Randy Keisler, who was called up before the game and made his Oakland debut.

Wang (3-1), helped by four double plays, had the best of his 25 career starts, never allowing a runner past first. He gave up three singles, walked two and struck out none, getting 20 outs on grounders.

Pitching for the third straight night, Mariano Rivera finished with a one-hit ninth for his seventh save in eight chances. With runners at the corners and one out, he got Nick Swisher to ground into Oakland's fifth double play of the night.

Zito has been victimized by poor run support all season: While he's been in, the A's have not scored more than three runs in any of his eight starts, and while he has allowed one run in 20 1-3 innings over his last three starts, he has gone just 1-1 in that span.

He allowed five hits in six innings, struck out four and walked four, dropping to 2-9 in 15 regular-season starts against New York.

With Matsui sidelined for three months or more, Torre said the Yankees will primarily use Bubba Crosby and Melky Cabrera as their corner outfielders. Against the left-handed Zito, Cabrera started in left and Williams in right, and Crosby replaced Cabrera in the eighth inning.

Oakland, which has lost three straight and six of nine, dropped under .500 at 17-18. The A's were without third baseman Eric Chavez (bacterial infection) and catcher Jason Kendall (serving a suspension) for the fourth straight game, and designated hitter Frank Thomas was out, a day after straining his right quadriceps.

Notes

Yankees RHP Carl Pavano allowed one run and three hits in six innings for Double-A Trenton against Bowie in an Eastern League game, striking out six and walking none. ... New York 2B Robinson Cano backhanded Adam Melhuse's grounder near second leading off the eighth, and made a strong, leaping throw from the edge of the outfield grass for the out. ... There were seven double plays overall.

New ballparks for the Yankees and Mets passed a financing hurdle on Wednesday when the New York City Council approved their payment plans.

The Yankees ballpark, planned to open in 2009 next to its current home in the Bronx, is expected to cost more than $1 billion, with the city and state providing more than $200 million. The Mets stadium, to be built on what is now part of the parking lot of Shea Stadium in Queens, is predicted to cost about $800 million, of which the city and state will contribute about $165 million.

The teams will pay the remainder of the costs, financed through both taxable and tax-exempt bonds. The Yankees and Mets plan to make "payments in lieu of taxes,'' or PILOTs, to pay off the tax-exempt bonds - which is essentially what the council voted to allow Wednesday.

The taxable portion of the bonds will be paid in the form of lease or rental payments.

"It's a win-win for the city of New York and it's a win-win for the Mets and the Yankees,'' said City Councilman David Weprin, who is finance chairman.

Public-address announcer Bob Sheppard's authoritative voice was missing from the New York Yankees' home opener for the first time since 1950 because of a hip injury.

Sheppard threw out his left hip Monday night at his Long Island home, the Yankees said before Tuesday's game against Kansas City. He will miss the three-game series against the Royals and hopes to be back April 21.

"I am very disappointed," Sheppard said in a statement. "I am optimistic that I will return to the stadium for the next homestand."

Bill Hall announced in his place. Sheppard, who became the public-address announcer in 1951, is thought to be in his 90s - he won't give his age.

"The fact that he's been here this long is pretty incredible," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, Johnny Damon drove in a run in his Yankees' debut, and Randy Johnson exhibited the dominant form he lacked for much of last season as New York routed Oakland 15-2.

Al Leiter attended the New York Yankees' spring reunion, then decided he's not coming back anymore.

The 19-year veteran retired Sunday after pitching to one batter in New York's 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. He and several Yankees had just returned from the World Baseball Classic, and New York was all together for the first time since the exhibition opener.

Leiter, a 40-year-old left-hander with two World Series rings, had hinted about calling it a career for some time. The end became official in the seventh inning when he got Cleveland's Eduardo Perez to ground out to third, the only batter he faced.

Time was called, and Leiter handed the ball to Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry. Alex Rodriguez patted him on the head and he began a slow, teary walk off the field for the final time.

He sat in New York's dugout until the Yankees turned an inning-ending double play, then got hugs and warm wishes from his teammates.

"It feels good to be able to go out on your own terms," Leiter said. "I love the game very much, but when you were a certain type of player for a few years, being a front-end starter, that's the way I still think I can pitch. But the body tells you no.

"It feels right. Family, kids, I'm constantly being asked when I'm coming home."

Perez, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, was thrilled to be a small part of Leiter's retirement.

"We go way back and it was an honor to be his last hitter," Perez said. "He's a class act. The competitor, the cutter, the never-say-die attitude. That's been Al Leiter."

Earlier, Leiter, a two-time All-Star who pitched a no-hitter in 1996, soaked in his last day in uniform as a major leaguer. He posed for photos with Yankees manager Joe Torre and spent about 15 minutes chatting with New York General Manager Brian Cashman.

Leiter, a second-round draft pick by the Yankees who made his major league debut with New York in 1987, finished with a record of 162-132 and won World Series titles with Toronto (1993) and Florida (1997). He also pitched for the New York Mets.