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Floyd, Riggans spur Rays' offense in rout of Yankees

Apr 5, 2008 - 5:19 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- With New York manager Joe Girardi confined to his office on Friday due to a respiratory infection, it was the Tampa Bay Rays that left the Yankees short of breath.

Cliff Floyd and Carlos Pena each homered to spark a seven-run eighth inning as the Rays rolled to a 13-4 victory over the Yankees.

New York bench coach Rob Thomson filled in for the ailing Girardi, who left Yankee Stadium immediately after the game to seek further medical attention.

Shawn Riggans, who came on as an injury replacement for catcher Dioner Navarro, added three RBI for Tampa Bay, which has scored at least six runs in each of its first three games this season.

"I know we have a good team," Floyd said. "We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We know it's been tough around (Tampa Bay) for a couple years. We have to prove we can stay consistently good before we start talking. I believe this team is headed in the right direction."

Navarro left the game in the third inning with a cut on his right hand.

"He (Navarro) just slipped going on to the dugout steps and cut his hand," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "It was a freaky thing. He grabbed on to the net and it cut the inside of his hand. Riggans comes in and hits a (triple) to right-center with the bases loaded. Sometimes you just get lucky."

After the Yankees had climbed to within 6-4 with a four-run third, Floyd capped his two-hit game with a leadoff homer that triggered a huge eighth inning for the Rays against relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth.

Two batters later, Eric Hinske hit his second double of the game and advanced to third on a single from Nathan Haynes.

After Haynes stole second, Jason Bartlett singled to left-center to plate both runners. Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford each followed with singles before Pena belted a three-run shot to right, capping the scoring.

Andy Sonnanstine (1-0) went six innings for the win, allowing four runs and six hits with four strikeouts. While he surrendered all the runs in the third, the righthander settled down after that, retiring the next 10 New York batters he faced before giving way to reliever Dan Wheeler to begin the seventh.

"I'm very happy with the way I came back tonight," Sonnanstine said. "They have a great lineup. I proved to myself that I could win here last year, and that helped me tonight. I felt Navarro and I were on the same page. It took me a little bit to get used to Riggans back there. He did a great job of corralling me and keeping me back down in the zone for three innings."

Hideki Matsui hit his first homer of the season for the Yankees, who have scored no more than four runs in any of their four games this season after leading the majors in that category in 2007.

After an RBI single in the first by Floyd got the Rays on the scoreboard, they exploded for five more runs two innings later.

Iwamura opened the third with a single and advanced to second on a groundout by Crawford before moving to third on a wild pitch by Yankees starter Ian Kennedy (0-1), who subsequently walked Carlos Pena.

That set the stage for B.J. Upton, who beat out a grounder for an infield single that plated Iwamura. Floyd walked to reload the bases before Riggans delivered a three-run double, giving the Rays a 5-0 bulge and knocking Kennedy out of the game.

"I was excited about the bases-loaded double," Riggans said. "My heart was beating so fast. My season was cut short last year, (so) I am just happy to be here to help the team. I was scheduled to play tomorrow. ... I knew he had to put something over the plate, and it just fell in."

"I just tried to do the best I could to calm him (Kennedy) down," Yankees catcher Jose Molina said. "The pitches were close. They could have gone either way. If we make the right pitches in the right location, we are going to get them out. I know he is going to bounce back and we will go from there."

Jonathan Albaladejo came on and promptly surrendered Hinske's RBI double before retiring the last two batters to avoid further damage.

New York answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning off Sonnanstine.

After Matsui's solo shot put the Yankees on the board, Molina followed with a double to deep center. After Johnny Damon struck out, Derek Jeter lined a triple to center, scoring Molina.

Following a groundout by Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez singled to center and scored on a double by Jason Giambi to draw the Yankees within 6-4.