updated 12:41 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2007

NEW YORK - Andy Pettitte tossed a gem, Jason Giambi provided the power and the New York Yankees got back on track with an efficient win over Detroit.

Pettitte pitched eight fantastic innings to win his fourth straight start and Giambi homered twice, sending New York to a 6-1 victory over the Tigers on Friday night.

“Andy really stepped up for us tonight,” Giambi said. “He’s been the guy to go to.”

Andy Phillips hit a two-run double and Alex Rodriguez had an RBI double for the Yankees, who had lost three straight after winning nine of 10. Joe Torre earned his 2,041st victory as a manager, passing Walter Alston for sole possession of eighth place.

New York moved within five games of first-place Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox split a doubleheader with the Los Angeles Angels.

Gary Sheffield was booed even louder in his second game back at Yankee Stadium for the Tigers, who fell out of first place in the AL Central, a half-game behind Cleveland.

“We didn’t do much, our entire lineup,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Giambi hit two solo shots, one in the fourth inning off Nate Robertson (7-10) and a drive deep into the right-field upper deck in the eighth against Aquilino Lopez.

The slugger has 11 homers this season, four since returning from a foot injury Aug. 7. His big performance came one day after commissioner Bud Selig announced he won’t punish Giambi because of his charitable work and cooperation with baseball’s steroids investigator.

It was Giambi’s first multihomer game since Aug. 20 last year at Boston, and the 35th of his career.

“I’m fresh and I’ve got good bat speed,” Giambi said.

The Yankees and Detroit rank 1-2 in runs — far ahead of everyone else in the majors — but Pettitte (10-7) tamed the Tigers all night. Throwing heavy cutters and sliders on a damp evening, the left-hander allowed one run and five hits. He struck out five and walked one.

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“My command’s back a little bit,” Pettitte said. “Hopefully, I can carry this out for a while.”

Pettitte has won six of seven decisions since the All-Star break. He is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA this month and 43-16 in August during his career.

“We needed a big performance and he came out and gave it to us,” Phillips said.

With the sellout crowd of 54,290 chanting his name, rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain threw several 99 mph fastballs and finished the six-hitter.

“It looks like it pumps him up,” Torre said, then praised Chamberlain’s maturity at 21 years old.

Pettitte, who hasn’t allowed a homer in his past five starts, lobbied a bit to stay in for the ninth.

“I think I could have bribed my way back out there if the kid didn’t need an inning,” Pettitte said, chuckling.

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Phillips finished with three hits, while Bobby Abreu added three soft singles and a stolen base.

The Tigers made a bold move before the game in the middle of a tense pennant race, calling up touted prospect Cameron Maybin and cutting slumping outfielder Craig Monroe — a key member of their World Series team last season.

The 20-year-old Maybin, with only six games of experience at Double-A, was brought up with a shot to play regularly. Considered one of the best prospects in baseball, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his major league debut while batting second and playing a shaky, though errorless, left field.

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