David Price
For the second straight series, the Rays were playing for tops of the A.L. East division. The Yankees had plans of their own but fell short of the division lead at the end of the series.
Rays’ starter James Shields took a beating Tuesday night as the Yankees scored seven runs on the ace, two of them unearned. The big hit came when Yankees’ catcher Russell Martin hit a grand slam off of Shields to right center field in the fourth inning. Shields would only last five innings and the Rays bats were silent the entire night, managing just two hits and no runs in 7 1/3 innings against Andy Pettitte giving New York an 8-5 victory.
Yankees’ Ivan Nova would continue his winning ways Wednesday night when he held the Rays to just one run on four hits. He held a shutout through eight strong innings as Tampa Bay once again could not put together a scoring threat until the lone run came in the ninth. Solo home runs by Mark Teixeira (2nd inning) and Robinson Cano (4th inning) gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead after four innings. They would add two more in the eighth to go on to a 4-1 win and claim first place in the division.
Thursday night a heavyweight matchup from the mound between the Rays’ David Price and the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. The Rays bats would be the ones to get the best of the opposing pitcher as the team accounted for five runs in the first four innings of the game off Sabathia. Price would strike out eight Yankee hitters, including getting Alex Rodriguez to strike out swinging in the bottom of the fifth inning with bases loaded. The Rays would end the series with a 7-3 win and regain first place of the division.
The Rays will move on to interleague play against the Miami Marlins for a weekend series in Miami.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
