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Young the hero in Yanks' dramatic win over Rays

Sep 12, 2014 - 5:20 AM Bronx, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Young broke up Alex Cobb's no-hit bid in the eighth inning, then belted a walk-off three-run homer in the ninth to give the New York Yankees a dramatic 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.

Young's one-out shot into the left-field seats on a 97 mph fastball came after Rays closer Jake McGee (4-2) hit Chase Headley in the chin with a pitch and gave up a double to Ichiro Suzuki.

"I wanted to stay away from (Young's) strength up and away, and he got on top of it and got enough of it," McGee said.

An inning earlier, Young ended Cobb's bid after 7 1/3 innings with a double to right-center field.

The Yankees won the last two games of the three-game series to finish 5-4 on a homestand.

Yunel Escobar homered twice off New York starter Michael Pineda -- a three-run blast in the fourth inning and a solo shot in the seventh -- but the Rays blew a sparking outing from their starter.

Cobb was taken out of the game after Young's double. Martin Prado, returning from a two-game absence because of a strained hamstring, then hit a pinch-hit two-run homer off reliever Brad Boxberger to cut New York's deficit to 4-2.

Until then, the Yankees had just three baserunners -- the first coming via an error when center fielder Kevin Kiermaier dropped a catchable fly ball from Stephen Drew leading off the third inning.

Cobb walked back-to-back batters with one out in the seventh, then sat through a long top of the eighth as New York changed pitchers. He had four strikeouts.

Pineda went 7 1/3 innings but remained winless in his last three starts. It was the only time in those three games the Yankees scored any runs. Pineda gave up 10 hits, four runs and struck out two without issuing a walk.

Boxberger hit Derek Jeter on the elbow in the eighth, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi said X-rays on the star shortstop were negative. Girardi said Headley wouldn't travel with the team to Baltimore right away because he wanted him to get X-rays on his jaw.

He said Headley had seam marks from the baseball on his chin and some bleeding but didn't think he would need stitches.

"He never lost consciousness as far as I saw and seemed as good as you can getting hit with a 98 mile-per-hour fastball," Girardi said.

Matt Garza threw the only Rays no-hitter on July 26, 2010, against Detroit.

NL pitchers have thrown eight no-hitters since the last one twirled in the AL, which was Felix Hernandez's perfect game for the Seattle Mariners against the Rays on Aug. 15, 2012.

Four pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 1, the fourth NL no-no this season.

The Yankees haven't been no-hit by one pitcher since Baltimore's Hoyt Wilhelm did it on Sept. 20, 1958. Six Houston pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees in an interleague game on June 11, 2003.

Game Notes

The national anthem on the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was performed by the Quantico Marine Corps Band, which is comprised of combat-trained active duty Marines ... Shawn Kelley (3-5) got two outs in the ninth inning to pick up the win ... The Yankees were without Brett Gardner (abdomen) for a fifth straight game and Carlos Beltran (elbow) for the second night in a row ... The Yankees will start a four-game road series against AL East-leading Baltimore with a doubleheader on Friday ... The Rays remain on the road to face Toronto.