The New York Yankees bounce back with a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-3 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and pitched well, the bullpen held on to the lead but they did run into some trouble. Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez led the Yankees offense. James Shields started for the Rays and pitched ok and their bullpen was ok. Luke Scott led the Rays offense with a couple of RBI. 
Nova won his 12^th game of the season and pitched six innings giving up four hits and two runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Joba Chamberlain pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning. Rafael Soriano picked up his 39^th save of the season. He pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Shields lost his ninth game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Kyle Farnsworth pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and a strikeout and Jake McGee pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Cano had two hits. Rodriguez had two hits and an RBI, Raul Ibanez drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI. Eduardo Nunez had a hit and an RBI and Chris Stewart drew a walk. Cano hit a double, Granderson and Nunez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-3 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base.

Desmond Jennings had a hit, Evan Longoria had a hit and an RBI and Jeff Keppinger had a hit. Matt Joyce had a hit and drew a walk, Ben Francisco had a hit and Ryan Roberts had a hit. Carlos Pena drew a walk, Stephen Vogt drew a walk and Scott had a hit and two RBI. Joyce and Roberts each hit a double and Longoria hit a homerun. The Rays were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

In the second inning Granderson hit a two run homerun and Nunez hit a solo homerun going back-to-back. It put the Yankees ahead 3-0. In the fifth Jeter hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0. Longoria hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make it a 4-1 game. In the seventh Scott hit a two run single to get the Rays to within 4-3. Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-3 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees and Rays have split the first two of the three game series. They will conclude the series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 82-63 and the Rays record dropped to 78-67. The Rays are now four back of the AL East leading Yankees. The Yankees currently have ½ a game lead on the Baltimore Orioles who are playing late Saturday night in Oakland. The Yankees could be back in sole possession of first place with an Orioles loss.