Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, in contrast, was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is hitless in his last 13 at-bats after being named AL player of the month for May.

So is Buddy Bell a miracle worker? The question seemed to rankle the new manager.

“I’m not,” he said. “It (the sweep) is something the players should be proud of. They should feel good about themselves.”

Matt Stairs hit Pavano’s pitch into the left-field bullpen leading off the sixth. A moment later, Long hit one into the bullpen in right, making it 5-2 and bringing a roar from 25,590 fans who have had little to cheer about since a 104-loss season in 2004. Most of them were on their feet and many were waving brooms as the Yankees went down in the ninth.

Bell, who took over the team on Tuesday just hours before the first game of the series, became the only Royals manager besides Whitey Herzog to win his first three games.

Pavano (4-4) went 5 1-3 innings, allowing five runs and nine hits. After giving up only 16 home runs last season with Florida, he’s already served up 13 this year.

The Royals, who swept the Yankees in New York in 1994, tied it at 1 in the third on an RBI double by Angel Berroa, then took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on Teahen’s RBI single and a fielder’s choice grounder by Costa in his second major league at-bat.

The Yankees got a run in the first on Hideki Matsui’s sacrifice fly. Derek Jeter’s RBI single in the fifth made it 3-2.

“It hurts, there’s no question about that,” said Torre. But there are a lot of other guys who are hurting, too.

Notes: Jeter’s single in the third broke an 0-for-12 skid. ... Mike Sweeney’s line-drive single in the fourth missed Pavano’s face by inches. ... The Royals’ sweepless streak wasn’t even close to the major league record of 134 series set by the Athletics from 1918-22. ... The home run was No. 200 for Stairs, who joined Larry Walker as the only Canadian-born players with 200 homers.

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