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Yankees blank Rays at the Trop

Jul 21, 2011 - 4:46 AM St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Curtis Granderson's two-run homer in the first inning was all the offense the New York Yankees needed in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the third game of a four-game series.

Freddy Garcia (8-7) scattered eight hits through 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven without a walk for the win, New York's fourth in five games.

David Price (9-8) went 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five as the Rays lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.

Derek Jeter, facing Price for the first time since homering for his 3,000th hit off the lefty, led off the game with a single up the middle. Granderson then hammered a ball over the right field wall to give the Yankees a quick 2-0 advantage.

The Rays had runners in scoring position in the first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but could not get the big hit they needed, going 0-for-6 in those chances and stranding nine men on base.

Their best chance to score came in the fifth.

Johnny Damon singled with one out and Casey Kotchman doubled into the left field corner to put runners on second and third with two outs for Evan Longoria, who crushed a ball deep into center field.

Granderson lost a ball in the Tropicana Field roof Tuesday night that resulted in the game-winning runs to score in a 3-2 loss, but he made up for it Wednesday.

He turned and ran full speed, tracking the ball the whole way and snatching it a step before slamming into the wall. He held on to the ball as he fell to the ground for the final out of the inning.

"To be able to go back on that ball showed tremendous range," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He plays shallower than most, and it works for him."

The Yankees tacked on two more runs in the ninth after Dane De La Rosa, who was making his major league debut, gave up back-to-back one-out walks to Nick Swisher and Russell Martin before being replaced by Cesar Ramos.

Chris Dickerson moved the runners up on a swinging bunt in front of the mound and Eduardo Nunez, after working a full count, muscled an inside fastball into shallow right-center field for a two-run single.

"These shutouts are really tough to watch sometimes," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It's similiar to the beginning of the season when we had that very difficult start. We're just not swinging the bats well in this ballpark. It's so difficult to understand."

Game Notes

Swisher made his first start at DH for the Yankees this year...Price has now allowed a home run in four consecutive starts...Brett Gardner extended his hit streak to eight games and also his career-best streak of 16 straight stolen base attempts without getting caught...Garcia improved to 9-2 in 16 starts against the Rays...Price has now completed at least six innings in nine of his last 11 starts...New York improved to 20-9 against left-handed pitchers this season.