Yankees 5, Rays 3
Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson homered and CC
Sabathia turned in his fourth consecutive eight-inning start as New York
took the series rubber match at Yankee Stadium.
Sabathia (5-0) remained unbeaten, struck out a season-high 10 while allowing a pair
of unearned runs on seven hits. He finished each of his last four
innings with strikeouts, including a seventh-inning punchout of B.J.
Upton with two runners on base. Rafael Soriano picked up his first save
despite allowing a run in the ninth inning.
Cano broke a 2-2 tie when he took David Price (5-2) deep to right-center
field with one out and one on in the fifth inning. Andruw Jones added
an RBI double later in the frame to give New York a three-run cushion.
Price worked seven innings in defeat, giving up 11 hits and walking three while striking out five.
Tampa Bay grabbed the early lead on RBI singles by Carlos Peña and Sean
Rodriguez in the first and second innings, but the Yankees tied it in
the bottom of the second on a solo homer by Granderson and an RBI base
hit by Chris Stewart.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Coupled with Baltimore’s doubleheader split against
Texas, the Tampa Bay loss pushed the Rays and Orioles into a tie atop
the American League East. ... Price had been 3-0 in five previous
head-to-head meetings against Sabathia, with Tampa Bay winning all five
games. ... Tampa Bay’s Jeff Keppinger was thrown out at home in the first
inning trying to score on Peña’s RBI hit. ... Cano had his second
three-hit game of the season and his first in exactly one month.