Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
NY Yankees 6, Tampa Bay 4
When: 7:10 PM ET, Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Bob Davidson, 1B - Brian Gorman, 2B - Todd Tichenor, 3B - Tony Randazzo
Attendance: 16711

Yankees 6, Rays 4: Russell Martin homered and drove in three runs as visiting New York snapped a three-game slide and jumped back into sole possession of first place in the American League East.

Ichiro Suzuki and Steve Pearce scored the go-ahead runs on an error in the seventh for the Yankees, who jumped a game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. Tampa Bay sits 2 1/2 games back of the division lead and 1 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.

The Rays decided to bring the infield in with runners on second and third and one out in the seventh. Kyle Farnsworth came on in relief and got Derek Jeter to send a hard grounder right at second baseman Elliot Johnson, whose throw home sailed wide and allowed Ichiro and Pearce to cross easily for a 6-4 edge.

Hiroki Kuroda (13-10) allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings but ended up with the win. Two relievers bridged the gap to Rafael Soriano, who worked a scoreless ninth for his 36th save.

Matt Moore (10-9) started for Tampa Bay and was charged with six runs (four earned) on eight hits while striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings.

New York took its first lead with a three-run fourth inning. Alex Rodriguez made it 1-1 with an RBI double to left and Martin put the Yankees on top when he followed with a two-run ground-rule double.

The Rays got those runs back on Ben Zobrist’s two-run triple in the fifth, only to see New York take the lead in the next half inning when Martin belted a 2-2 breaking ball into the stands in left for a solo home run - his 15th.

Luke Scott responded in the bottom of the frame, hooking a solo homer out to right to knot it at 4-4.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Yankees, who had dropped 10 of 14, held a 20-minute team meeting prior to the game. … New York LHP Andy Pettitte (ankle) threw 15 pitches in a simulated game on Wednesday and is expected to throw again this weekend in Baltimore, when the Yankees visit the Orioles for a four-game showdown. … Tampa Bay RHP Jeff Niemann (rotator cuff) met with Dr. James Andrews and could start throwing later this month. … The Rays get Thursday off before hosting the AL-best Texas Rangers in a three-game series starting Friday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Yankees   Tampa Bay
Hiroki Kuroda Player Matt Moore
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 6.1
3 Strikeouts 9
8 Hits 8
6.00 ERA 5.68
Hitting
NY Yankees   Tampa Bay
Derek JeterPlayer Evan Longoria
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
4 TB 2
.600 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Yankees 8 1 14 .235 9 15 4 2 1 0
Tampa Bay 9 1 15 .265 12 7 4 3 0 1