The New York Yankees rally for an improbable victory in Tampa Bay
By Gary Marches
May 25, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera (42) throws a pitch during the eleventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 4-3 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Vidal Nuno made the start and pitched well. Lyle Overbay was the offensive hero with the game winning homerun. Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki each had a couple of hits.
Nuno pitched six innings giving up five hits and two runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Shawn Kelley gave up a hit and a run without recording an out, Boone Logan gave up a hit to the only batter he faced and Preston Claiborne pitched two perfect innings with a couple of strikeouts. David Robertson gave up a walk and struck out one in an inning, Ivan Nova picked up his second win of the season pitching an inning and giving up two hits and a walk with a couple of strikeouts. Mariano Rivera picked up his 18th save of the season pitching a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts.
Gardner had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Robinson Cano drew two walks and Travis Hafner had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. David Adams had a hit, Suzuki had two hits and Jayson Nix had a hit. Overbay had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Brennan Boesch had a pinch hit double and an RBI and Gardner hit a double. Overbay hit a homerun and the Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Nix had a stolen base and Gardner was caught stealing.
Matt Moore pitched six innings giving up five hits and a run with two walks and two strikeouts. Jake McGee pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Joel Peralta pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out two and Fernando Rodney blew his fifth save of the season. Rodney pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Josh Lueke took his second loss of the season pitching two innings giving up a hit and a run with a walk and three strikeouts.
Desmond Jennings had a hit and an RBI, Ryan Roberts had a hit and Evan Longoria had two hits. Ben Zobrist drew two walks, James Loney had a hit and Matt Joyce had a hit and drew a walk. Jose Molina had a hit, Kelly Johnson had a hit and an RBI and Yunel Escobar had a hit and an RBI. Longoria, Molina, Jennings and Joyce each hit a double and the Rays were 2-15 with runners in scoring position and left ten men on base. Jennings had a stolen base and Roberts committed an error.
Hafner hit an RBI single in the first giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Jennings hit an RBI double to tie the game at one. In the seventh the Rays took a 3-1 lead on a Johnson RBI single and Escobar reached on a fielders choice scoring another run. The Yankees tied the game in the ninth with two outs and two strikes. Boesch hit an RBI double and Gardner an RBI single and in the 11th inning Overbay hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead which would be the final.