"Mark Teixeira became the latest Yankee to reach a milestone, recording the 1,000th RBI of his career Friday night against the Twins.

"That's a nice number," Teixeira said. "My whole career, I've always thought of myself as someone that drives in runs. That's probably the stat I'm most proud about more than anything every year, being able to drive in 100 runs a year."

Teixeira's .251 batting average and .347 on-base percentage are both well below his career marks, but with 94 RBI, he's well on his way to an eighth consecutive 100-RBI season.

"No matter how I get it done, even though my average isn't good this year, I've been really good with runners in scoring position, really good with men on base and hitting a lot of home runs," Teixeira said.

"I'd love to have a higher average, no doubt, but at the end of the day, if I can drive in a lot of runs, that's what's best for my team hitting in the middle of the order."

Teixeira averaged 113 RBI over his first eight seasons, his career-high coming in 2003 when he drove in 144 runs for the Rangers. Teixeira led the league with 122 in 2009, his first season with the Yankees.

"When you reach something like 1,000 RBI in only nine years, you look at yourself and say, 'Okay, I'm doing all right,'" Teixeira said. "Just keep doing what you're doing, keep working hard and hopefully there's a lot more to come.""