Bullpen comes through as Yanks edge Rays

(Sunday, August 17)

Final Score: New York 4, Tampa Bay 2

St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) –

Brett Gardner hit a two-run single to help the New York Yankees post a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a three-game set.

Mark Teixeira hit a solo home run, while Jacoby Ellsbury also drove in a run for the Yankees, who won the final two games of this series after dropping their previous five. Hiroki Kuroda (8-8) allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings.

Evan Longoria brought home both runs for the Rays, who had won three straight before losing their last two. Jeremy Hellickson (1-2) was charged with three runs on four hits and two walks in five innings.

Tampa Bay grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Ben Zobrist scored on Longoria’s groundout, but the Yankees put three runs across in the fifth to take the lead.

With two outs, Stephen Drew walked and Martin Prado doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Gardner, who punched a single to center to plate both men. Derek Jeter then singled and Ellsbury followed with an RBI base hit for a 3-1 lead.

Matt Joyce doubled to start the seventh and scored on Longoria’s RBI single to make it a one-run game, but Teixeira belted his 20th home run of the season in the eighth.

Dellin Betances pitched around a one-out single in the eighth, while David Robertson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 33rd save of the season.

Game Notes

New York hosts Houston for three games starting on Tuesday … Tampa Bay hosts Detroit for a three-game set beginning Tuesday … Despite the loss, Tampa Bay still leads the season series, 8-5.

BOX SCORE

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E NY Yankees « 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 8 0 Tampa Bay 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 2 W:H.Kuroda(8-8) L:J.Hellickson(1-2) S:D.Robertson (33) HR: NYY- M.Teixeira (20) TAM- None

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Brett Gardner LF	4	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	.276
Derek Jeter DH	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.271
Jacoby Ellsbury CF	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.270
Mark Teixeira 1B	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.235
Carlos Beltran RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.235
Ichiro Suzuki RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.277
Brian McCann C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.235
Chase Headley 3B	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.253
Stephen Drew SS	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.170
Martin Prado 2B	4	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
Totals	36	4	8	4	1	0	1	2	8
Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Desmond Jennings CF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.244
Ben Zobrist 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.279
Matt Joyce LF	4	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.281
Evan Longoria 3B	4	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.253
James Loney 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.285
Yunel Escobar SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.255
Vince Belnome DH	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Jose Molina C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.187
Brandon Guyer PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.273
Curt Casali C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.186
Kevin Kiermaier RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.268
Totals	32	2	5	2	1	0	0	1	4

E_E.Longoria, Y.Escobar. LOB_NY Yankees 8, Tampa Bay 4. 2B_M.Prado, M.Joyce. HR_M.Teixeira (20) off J.Peralta. S_B.Gardner.

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Hiroki Kuroda (W 8-8)	6.2	4	2	2	1	1	0	97-64	3.97
Shawn Kelley (H 9)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4-3	4.58
Dellin Betances (H 18)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	15-10	1.48
David Robertson (S 33)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12-7	2.51
Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Jeremy Hellickson (L 1-2)	5.0	4	3	3	2	5	0	99-62	2.56
Jeff Beliveau	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	13-8	2.19
Kirby Yates	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	14-9	2.19
Joel Peralta	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	1	21-16	3.86
Grant Balfour	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	12-8	4.91

WP_H.Kuroda.
T_3:13. A_28812.
Umpires_Home,Mark Ripperger; First, Lance Barksdale; Second, Gary Cederstrom; Third, Kerwin Danley.