The New York Yankees have won games this season mostly using a league-leading 218 home runs, but on Sunday they beat the Tampa Bay Rays using small ball. And another home run as well.
Eduardo Nunez had three steals, Nick Swisher added a sacrifice bunt and slumping catcher Russell Martin had a three-run home run to fuel the Yankees to a 6-4 win at home against the Rays.
"We have a day off. Guys are going to rest tomorrow," manager Joe Girardi told the Associated Press. "It's their last one of the year and they'd better rest because we still have a grind left."
New York got off to an early lead in the game, scoring five runs in a wild third inning.
After Nunez walked and stole second, Derek Jeter hit an RBI single and was able to advance on a throwing error to second base. After Swisher's sacrifice moved Jeter to third, Alex Rodriguez hit an RBI single to make it 2-0. Following a Cano walk, Martin blasted a three-run home run to make it 5-0.
"Yeah, I take full credit for it," said Swisher, who had one sacrifice last year. "In a situation right there, I felt like it needed to be done. I tried to lay it down right there, and the next thing you know, Rod comes up there -- ribbie."
A couple batters later both benches were warned by the umpires after Rays pitcher Matt Moore threw a ball near Curtis Granderson's head. Tampa manager Joe Maddon got in an argument with the umpires and was ejected.
The inning also had a pickoff throw that went wide and three walks by Rays pitching.
"That third inning was just atrocious," Moore said.
Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda regained his midseason form for New York, earning his career-best 14th win, striking out 10 batters in six innings. Rafael Soriano came into the game in the ninth and closed it out for his 40th save of the year.
The Yankees won two of three from the Rays and have a one game division lead over the Baltimore Orioles with only 16 games left to play. The Orioles won 8-4 in Oakland on Sunday to keep pace and stay one game back of the Yankees.
The Rays closed the gap in the fourth off a Ben Zobrist solo home run, and then added three more runs in the sixth, but that was all they could muster.
Jeter still leads the league with 199 hits and has a 12-game hit streak. This is the final game between the two teams this year and leaves the Rays with a 10-8 advantage.
With the loss, Tampa is now five games behind the Yankees for the division and sit behind Baltimore and Los Angeles for the Wild Card.
Last year the Rays played a part in an exciting last night of the season, beating the Yankees to earn the Wild Card after the Boston Red Sox squandered a nine game lead at the beginning of September.
"The math isn't in our favor," Maddon said. "The baseball gods have created two wild cards, so let's see what happens."
According to ESPN Stats and Information, the first nine outs of the game were all by a strikeout. The last major-league game where the first nine outs were strikeouts was between the Rays and Toronto at Tropicana Field, on April 8, 2007.
On Tuesday the Yankees will welcome back pitcher Andy Pettitte against the Toronto Blue Jays. Pettitte has been out since June with an ankle injury.
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