Tampa Bay Rays edge New York Yankees 4-3 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays put up another fine performance as they edged the New York Yankees 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Monday, September 3 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
The Rays used their home conditions effectively to create all sorts of problems for the Yankees’ batting line-up. Starting pitcher James Shields played a big part in deciding the outcome of the game as he gave up just five hits and three runs in eight solid
innings to grab his 13th win of the season. Striking-out five batters, he kept New York on the defensive with his very useful sliders and fastballs.
"This is the start of September, and this is where you want to be," Shields said. "In spring training, we always want to be in the playoff hunt, and now here we are again."
Relief pitcher Fernando Rodney pitched the perfect ninth for his 41st win of the season.
Chris Gimenez provided the Rays with an excellent start as he singled to right centre in the second inning to put his side on the board. B.J. Upton continued his superb hitting form as he smacked a solo home-run to left centre in the third to double Rays’
lead to 2-0.
"I would say that is probably one of the funnest things that's happened. It was fun just to be up in that situation. It was a confidence booster, righty on the mound -- being who it is -- and he's pretty darn good himself," said the 29-year-old catcher Gimenez,
in his fourth major league season after his tenure with Cleveland and Seattle.
Eric Chavez brought Yankees back into the contest with a sacrifice fly hit to left. Russell Martin reached on infield single to first to help New York come back from behind for 3-2 lead but the Rays were not prepared to give up. Evan Longoria grounded out
to shortstop in the fifth inning and Gimenez singled to right in the eighth to give Rays a memorable win in front of their home crowd.
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