Curtis Granderson and Ivan Nova help New York Yankees defeat Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 – MLB Update
Curtis Granderson scored four RBIs and Ivan Nova blanked the Tampa Bay Rays as New York Yankees snatched a 5-0 shut-out in the opening matchup of the four-game series at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday, September 20.
Eric Chavez set a good foundation for the Yankees with his beautiful shot to right-field for an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning. After Derek Jeter struck-out, Curtis Granderson, the Yankees hard hitter, doubled to right-field and Eric Chavez,
Russell Martin and Brett Gardner scored to take the Yankees into a good 4-0 lead.
Granderson added another RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning. 30-year-old left-hand batter reached on an infield single to first while Brett Gardner, who was on third base, stretched his legs to score the fifth run.
Ivan Nova was at the back of Granderson with his comeback pitching. Right-hand pitcher, who has lost his last two outings, tagged for six no-score hits and walked three batters in just over seven innings. Nova added three more strike-outs to his season record
to snatch his 16th win in 26 starts.
Yankees now have to win only one more game to be the first in the American League to cement a place in the playoff circle.
Tampa Bay Rays, looking to reduce their wild-card race to two, could not carry their momentum they have shown against the Boston Red Sox. Their batting squad completely failed in an important outing. Desmond Jennings, B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Johnny
Damon each landed four times to test their luck but Nova did not allow them to make any impression. Sean Rodriguez touched two of the total six hits but none of these could be converted into a run.
The same was the condition with the Rays’ starter, Wade Davis, who tagged for eight hits, five runs and allowed five walks in just over four innings. It cost him his tenth loss of the 2011 regular season. Davis was struggling to keep his pitches in the right
location as his pitches were a little slow causing him some problems.
Rays will now struggle hard to reduce their wild-card race. They are three games behind to Boston Red Sox.
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