Raul Ibanez hit two home runs Tuesday night to help give the New York Yankees a 5-3 victory in Game 1 of their three-game series at Yankee Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays. Ibanez took starter James Shields deep to right field to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. He added a solo-shot off Burke Badenhop in the seventh for what would prove to be the winning run.
Ivan Nova improved his record to 4-1 on the season. He gave up six hits and two earned runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts. He didn't let the Rays on the board until the sixth when Jose Molina belted a solo home run to left to start the inning. Nova gave up another solo shot to Luke Scott before getting the last two outs of the inning on a pop fly and strikeout.
Curtis Granderson hit another home run in the fifth inning for his 10th on the year. Mark Texeira capped scoring with a double to score Alex Rodriguez in the eighth. David Robertson struck out Carlos Pena with the bases loaded to end the ninth inning in his first save opportunity since Mariano Rivera went down with a torn ACL.
See Pinstripe Alley for more discussion and analysis of the Yankees.