nine in another dominant performance and the New York Yankees beat the
sloppy Texas Rangers 5-1 on Friday night in a game that was called after
six innings because of rain.
Sabathia allowed three hits and walked
none in his first complete game of the season. He retired 17 of the
last 19 batters he faced after Josh Hamilton's one-out double in the
first, including six consecutive strikeouts.
The big left-hander carried a
no-hitter into the eighth in his previous start at Tampa Bay before
settling for 7 2/3 shutout innings.
C.J. Wilson, working on seven days'
rest, also pitched six innings for Texas but was hurt by control
problems and first baseman Chris Davis' throwing error during New York's
three-run fourth.
Rain began to fall after New York's
Nick Johnson flied out to end the fourth. The showers intensified in the
sixth and the grounds crew pulled the tarp on the field after the
inning was completed.
With more rain in the forecast, the
game was called after a 65-minute delay.
Wilson (0-1) was scratched from his
scheduled start on Wednesday when a couple of the Rangers were stricken
with food poisoning. Catcher Taylor Teagarden, who had been out since
Monday, also returned to the lineup and gave the Yankees an unearned run
in the first when Derek Jeter scored on his passed ball.
New York (7-3) has won five of six for
its best 10-game start since a 9-1 beginning in 2003. The defending
World Series champions also denied the Rangers (5-5) their best 10-game
record since they opened 6-4 in 1999.
Jeter had two hits, including a
run-scoring infield single in the sixth, and Robinson Cano went 1-for-3,
making them the first pair of Yankees to begin the same season with
10-game hitting streaks in franchise history, according to research by
the Elias Sports Bureau.
New York grabbed control in the
fourth, putting the first three batters on without hitting the ball out
of the infield. Wilson hit Alex Rodriguez with a pitch and Cano reached
on an infield single before Nick Swisher walked to load the bases.
Davis made a nice diving stop on
Curtis Granderson's one-out grounder but his throw to second glanced off
Swisher's right arm and went into left field. Rodriguez and Cano scored
to give New York a 3-1 lead, and Francisco Cervelli added an RBI single
to left.
That was more than enough for
Sabathia (2-0), who improved to 8-3 with a 4.29 ERA in 14 career starts
against the Rangers. It was his first start against Texas since June
2008 and his first victory against the AL West club since July 2007.
Vladimir Guerrero hit a sacrifice fly
in the first for Texas. Wilson allowed three earned runs and seven
hits, walked three and hit two batters.
Notes
The Yankees placed RHP Chan Ho
Park (right hamstring strain) on the 15-day disabled list before the
game and recalled LHP Boone Logan from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Park was confident he would be OK in a couple days. … Texas 3B Michael
Young went 1-for-3 and remains tied with Ivan Rodriguez for most
multihit games in Rangers history at 490. … Yankees C Jorge Posada
rested and is expected to start the last two games of the series, both
afternoon contests. … Game 2 of the New Jersey Devils-Philadelphia
Flyers NHL playoff series was shown on the center-field videoboard
during the rain delay.