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Pena, Aybar Homer as Rays Blast Yankees, 9-3
St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar each clubbed two-run homers, and David Price pitched into the eighth inning as the Rays blew out the New York Yankees, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game series.
Jason Bartlett also drove in two runs for Tampa Bay, which was coming off winning two of three from Baltimore to open the season.
Price (1-0), the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings. The lefty, who was 10-7 last season, allowed seven hits and three runs while walking three batters.
The Yankees, who won two-of-three in Boston to begin defense of their World Series title, got two hits and an RBI from Nick Johnson.
Staring his second tour of duty with the Yankees, Javier Vazquez (0-1) yielded eight hits and eight runs over 5 2/3 innings. Vazquez, acquired this offseason from Atlanta, spent the 2004 season with the Yankees.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira continued his amazing slump to begin the season. He's 0-for-16 this season, ending hitless in four at-bats Friday.
The Yankees went on top in the fourth inning. Johnson led off with a single, and with one out Alex Rodriguez tripled off the wall in center field. The relay throw home was late, and then Rodriguez scored when catcher Dioner Navarro threw the ball high to third and into left field.
The Rays sent nine men to the plate in the bottom half of the frame and went ahead for good. Ben Zobrist walked on four pitches, and with one out Pena belted a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right field. B.J. Upton singled to center and stole second before scoring on Navarro's two-out bloop base hit to left field for a 3-2 Rays edge.
Sean Rodriguez then singled up the middle before Bartlett gave Tampa Bay some breathing room with a two-run double to left on a ball that got under the glove of a diving Marcus Thames.
Upton doubled to start the sixth and Aybar followed with a homer to right field. Vazquez walked Bartlett with two outs before giving way to Sergio Mitre, who gave up an RBI single to Carl Crawford and then an RBI double to Zobrist for a 9-2 margin.
Derek Jeter and Johnson had back-to-back doubles to begin the eighth, and Price was lifted later in the frame after loading the bases. Lance Cormier entered and fanned Nick Swisher to end the inning.
This was the first of 18 meetings this season between the AL East rivals. The Yankees went 11-7 last season, winning nine of the last 12 games between the clubs...Teixeira’s 0-for-16 slump ties his worst start of his career (2003 with Texas).
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