New York-Tampa Bay: Yanks Beat Rays, Increase Division Lead

The Yankees jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on their way to an 8-3 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays as they increased their AL East lead to 2.5 games.

Here are some highlights:

• Phil Hughes pitched well, but wasn’t overpowering as he walked five batters. His line: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.
• Hughes tied Scott Sanderson for the Yankee record for home runs allowed at Yankee Stadium with 20.
• Nick Swisher opened the scoring with a first-inning homer. He went 2-for-5 during the game.
• The Yankees had five doubles thanks to Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Lance Berkman, and Brett Gardner.
• Every Yankee starter had at least one hit except Mark Teixeira, who walked once.
• Joba Chamberlain pitched 1.2 impressive innings. In the eighth he inherited two runners, put one more on, and then got two outs to get out of a bases-loaded jam without surrendering a run.
• Javier Vazquez pitched one inning and didn’t strike out a batter. It’s the first time he hasn’t struck out a batter in 350 appearances.

This was a big win for the Yankees. They are now 2.5 games ahead of the Rays for first place. That’s significant because with two games left in this series the Rays cannot overtake first place even if they win the rest of the games in the series. The Yankees also cannot lose this series.

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