Ivan Nova pitched eight strong innings to win his third straight start and the visiting New York Yankees rode a big first inning to a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Nova (7-4) allowed one run on four hits in the longest outing of his career to lift the Yankees to their third straight win. He tied a career high with seven strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano had two hits apiece and drove in a run in New York's four-run first inning against Reds starter Travis Wood, a late replacement for Johnny Cueto.

Wood (5-5) gave up five hits in the first and was touched for RBI hits by Rodriguez, Cano and Andruw Jones. The lefthander pitched superbly the rest of the way, going seven innings and yielding only three more hits.

Cincinnati pushed across its only run against Nova on Joey Votto's double-play grounder in the first. Scott Rolen added an RBI single in the ninth before Mariano Rivera secured his 18th save.

Cueto, Monday’s scheduled starter, was held out because of soreness in his neck.