RAMOS, PEN KEEP RAYS PERFECT AT HOME
Combined 1-Hitter Gives TB 11th Straight Home 'W'
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Apr. 20 (AP) - Cesar Ramos tossed seven one-hit innings,
leading the Tampa Bay Rays past the New York Yankees 2-0 at Tropicana
Field. It was the fourth straight win for the Rays and the club's 11th
consecutive home victory to open the 2014 season. Tampa Bay is the only
team left in the major leagues without a home loss. The win completed a
three-game sweep for the Rays; the Yankees have now dropped six consecutive
games.
The Yankees' only hit came courtesy of the team's first batter of the
contest. Jacoby Ellsbury fell behind Ramos 0-2 leading off the game but
still managed to loop a broken bat single into shallow center field. After
retiring Derek Jeter on a line drive to left, Ramos induced Carlos Beltran to
roll into an inning ending double play. The Jeter line out was the first
of 14 consecutive batters set down by the Rays starter, a streak that wasn't
broken until Brett Gardner drew a lead-off walk in the sixth.
The Yankees had only one other baserunner in the entire game; pinch hitter
Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk from reliever Grant Balfour in the ninth.
New York starter Vidal Nuno held the Rays scoreless through three innings but
the Rays broke through in the fourth. Ben Zobrist opened the frame when he
reached on an infield single and Logan Forsythe followed with an opposite field
home run to put Tampa Bay on top 2-0. It could have been an even bigger
inning for the Rays. Evan Longoria doubled to right-center immediately
after Forsythe's home run and, two outs later, Brandon Guyer singled to
center. Longoria tried to score but was cut down at the plate by Ellsbury.
Ellsbury picked up a second assist in the game when he gunned down Yunel Escobar
trying to score on Zobrist's two-out single in the sixth.
The missed opportunities ended up doing no damage to the Rays' hopes.
After Ramos completed seven innings, allowing just two baserunners, C.J.
Riefenhauser came on and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. Balfour entered in the
ninth, allowed the one-out walk to Suzuki, but struck out two batters in the
inning and extended the pitching staff's ability to keep a Yankees baserunner
from reaching second.
4/20/2014, NYA14-Tam14, Tropicana Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 2014 Rays 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 x 2 10 0 7 1 Yankees AB R H BI AVG Rays AB R H BI AVG Ellsbury cf 4 0 1 0 .329 Rodriguez,S lf 3 0 1 0 .333 Jeter ss 4 0 0 0 .180 Jennings,De cf 0 0 0 0 .365 Beltran rf 3 0 0 0 .159 Zobrist dh 4 1 2 0 .192 Soriano,A dh 3 0 0 0 .230 Forsythe 2b 4 1 1 2 .314 Teixeira 1b 3 0 0 0 .211 Longoria 3b 4 0 2 0 .267 Solarte 3b 3 0 0 0 .207 Myers rf 3 0 1 0 .212 Gardner lf 2 0 0 0 .345 Loney 1b 4 0 0 0 .241 Roberts,B 2b 3 0 0 0 .209 Guyer cf 3 0 1 0 .238 Murphy,J c 2 0 0 0 .000 Escobar,Y ss 3 0 1 0 .238 Suzuki,I ph 0 0 0 0 .360 Hanigan c 3 0 1 0 .263 27 0 1 0 31 2 10 2 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Nuno L 0-1 5.1 8 2 2 1 1 87 56 5.14 Claiborne 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 22 16 0.00 Kelley 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 9 4.82 8.0 10 2 2 1 3 123 81 Rays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ramos,C W 4-0 7.0 1 0 0 1 3 87 57 2.76 Riefenhauser H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 18.00 Balfour S 6 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 22 11 2.00 9.0 1 0 0 2 5 115 72 NYA: Suzuki,I batted for Murphy,J in the 9th Tam: Jennings,De inserted at cf in the 9th Guyer moved to lf in the 9th 2B-Longoria(3). HR-Forsythe(4). RBI-Forsythe 2(11). K-Ellsbury, Jeter, Soriano,A, Roberts,B, Murphy,J, Zobrist, Longoria 2. BB-Gardner, Suzuki,I, Myers. HBP-Rodriguez,S. HB-Nuno. GWRBI: Forsythe Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 29,019 Game Time: 2:30