Yankees 11, Rays 5
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia won for the first time in more than a year, and the Yankees hit a season-high five home runs in an easy 11-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
New York (21-12) made it easy for Sabathia (1-5), who had allowed at least seven hits in each of his first six starts this season, his last win coming on April 24, 2014. The Rays (17-16) had held opponents to less than 10 hits in an MLB-high and club-record 19 straight games, but the Yankees got 14 on Monday, including three-run home runs from third baseman Chase Headley and left fielder Brett Gardner.
The Yankees added their only run not off a homer in the seventh inning, on a Headley sacrifice fly, and the Rays got back-to-back solo home runs off Sabathia in the seventh, from designated hitter Chase Forsythe and left fielder Joey Butler. Leading 9-5 in the ninth, the Yankees got a fifth home run from first baseman Mark Teixeira, his 11th of the year.
Just as Sabathia got his first win, Rays starter Alex Colome (2-1) took his first loss, his season ERA tripling from 1.80 to 5.63 ERA after allowing eight earned runs on 11 hits. The game drew an announced crowd of just 10,619, the lowest ever for a Yankees game at Tropicana Field in the Rays' 18 seasons.
The Yankees had matched their season high with three home runs by the fifth inning, helping Sabathia with a 5-1 lead.
Sabathia gave up a run in the first inning on designated hitter Logan Forsythe's RBI double, but the Yankees caught a break when right fielder Steven Souza was thrown out at the plate trying to score a second run with one out.
The Yankees got a solo home run from designated hitter Alex Rodriguez -- his eighth of the season and No. 662 in his career -- in the first inning, the beginning of a rough night for Colome. That was the only hit Colome allowed in the first three innings, but the Yankees found their bats soon after.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran and Teixeira singled in the fourth, and both scored on a three-run home run by Headley (his fourth of the year) to right field to give New York a 4-1 lead.
Beltran, who had zero home runs in his first 26 games this season, homered for the second game in a row, a solo shot that gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead in the fifth.
While the Yankees got to Colome for eight hits in the first five innings, Sabathia found his rhythm, holding the Rays to just two hits entering the sixth. Sabathia came in with an 0-5 record and a 5.45 ERA, having allowed at least seven hits in each of his first six starts.
NOTES: Rays LHP Jake McGee (offseason elbow surgery) made a fifth rehab appearance Monday, pitching one scoreless inning for Triple-A Durham. 2B Nick Franklin (oblique strain) is 5-for-15 through five rehab games for Durham. ... RHP Michael Pineda tied the second-best Yankees total ever with his 16 strikeouts Sunday against the Orioles. He also matched the most K's by a major-leaguer since Detroit's Anibel Sanchez had 17 in April 2013. Pineda became the first Yankees pitcher to fan 16-plus without issuing a walk. ... Yankees RHP Dellin Betances and LHP Andrew Miller are the only teammates to pitch 15-plus innings in their team's first 32 games without giving up an earned run, per Elias Sports Bureau. ... Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, a Yankees legend, celebrates his 90th birthday Tuesday.