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Recap: Yankees 7, Rays 0
Yankees 7, Rays 0: Russell Martin belted a grand slam and Andy Pettitte scattered two hits over 7 1/3 sizzling innings as host New York cruised to its ninth victory in 12 games.
After plating a pair of runs on shortstop Elliot Johnson’s throwing error in the first inning, the Yankees broke open the contest in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Martin deposited an 0-2 fastball from James Shields (6-4) over the wall in right-center field to give New York a 6-0 advantage.
Martin collected three hits and Nick Swisher added an RBI double in the fifth inning to give Pettitte (3-2) a comfortable cushion. The veteran left-hander struck out a season-high 10 batters – including five in a row at one point – to improve to 17-6 lifetime versus Tampa Bay.
Shields was not as fortunate. He yielded seven runs on as many hits and walked four over five innings to fall to 5-13 in his career against the Yankees.
New York benefited from three errors by Tampa Bay to pull within one-half game of the Rays in the American League East.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York 2B Robinson Cano was named the captain for the American League Home Run Derby team. … Martin’s grand slam was the third allowed by Shields in his career. The homer was Martin’s fifth of the season. … Tampa Bay’s Hideki Matsui received a warm ovation prior to his first at-bat. Matsui, who played with the Yankees from 2003-09, earned World Series MVP honors in his last season in the Bronx. He went 0-for-4. … The Rays activated LF Desmond Jennings from the disabled list prior to the game. Jennings, who had been sidelined with a sprained left knee, batted in the leadoff position and went 1-for-4.
