CLEVELAND – Scott Elarton contained New York’s power-packed lineup for six innings and led the Cleveland Indians to a 6-5 win last night over the Yankees, who couldn’t stage their third straight comeback.

Elarton (7-5) allowed three runs and four hits as the Indians won the opener of their three-game series against the Yankees, one of a handful of teams they’re battling for the AL wild card.

Bob Wickman, Cleveland’s fourth reliever, retired Derek Jeter on a grounder with a runner at second for his 28th save in 32 attempts. Wickman has converted 20 straight saves at home.

Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run double off an erratic Al Leiter (1-3), and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland, which came in 4 1/2 games behind wild-card leader Oakland. The Indians are 34-1 when they score at least six runs.

Alex Rodriguez hit his AL-leading 29th homer, a two-run shot in the sixth, and Tino Martinez had a solo drive in the third for the New York.

“Our goal every game is to score six,” Rodriguez said. “We just missed. We had a chance with Jeter up, you got to like that.”

The Yankees were coming off two straight victories in which they rallied from four runs down in the eighth inning, becoming the first team to do so since the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. They couldn’t pull off another one, however, and fell 3 1/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.

“We had too big of a hole to climb out of,”Joe Torre said.

With New York down 6-1 in the sixth, Gary Sheffield ripped a shot to left that missed being a homer by inches, thudding off the top of the 19-foothigh wall. Coco Crisp quickly got the ball into the infield, holding Sheffield to a long single.

But Crisp couldn’t do anything but watch as Rodriguez followed with his homer onto the home run porch in left, bringing New York to 6-3.

The Yankees got an unearned run in the seventh, set up by reliever Arthur Rhodes’s first error since June 1, 1998. After Jorge Posada singled, Tino Martinez hit a comebacker that Rhodes gloved but threw away at second for his first error in 417 games. Rhodes, though, squirmed out of the mess by allowing only Jeter’s RBI fielder’s choice.

New York closed to 6-5 in the eighth when Sheffield scored from third on Scott Sauerbeck’s wild pitch.

Leiter completely lost his control in the third. He walked the bases full on 16 pitches before Belliard unloaded them with a double down the left-field line. Third-base coach Joel Skinner tried to hold up Jose Hernandez, but he ran through Skinner’s stop sign as the Indians went up 5-1.

Leiter walked five in his shortest outing since June 8, 2003, with the Mets.

“Walking five in 15 batters, something bad will happen,” Leiter said, “and it did.”

The Indians made it 6-1 in the fifth on Victor Martinez’s 14th homer.

In 19 games since the All-Star break, the Tribe catcher is batting a league-best .413 with five homers and 18 RBI.

Grady Sizemore’s RBI single gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the second. Victor Martinez drove in Cleveland’s first run with a single in the first.