Yanks Beat Rays 2-1

The Yankees improved to 12-7 on the spring with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at the soon to be Steinbrenner Field. ... Darrel Rasner got the start for the Yankees and was very good. He may have taken the edge over Jeff Karstens for the long man role. He went 4 innings and gave up no runs on two hits and a walk, he also struck out four. ... Mariano Rivera pitched an inning and gave up no runs on one hit with a strike out. ... Edwar Ramirez pitched one inning and retired the side in order with a strike out along the way. Since giving up three runs to the Twins on March 9th, Ramirez has thrown 4.1 IP, and allowed no runs on only two hits, while striking out seven and walking none - pretty impressive. ... Brian Bruney also pitched a perfect inning, and like Ramirez he's been great in his last several outings. In his last 5.1 IP he's hasn't allowed no runs on three hits and a walk, and struck out seven. ... Ross Ohlendorf struck out two and hit a batter in his inning of work. Ohlendorf lowered his spring era to 1.35, he's allowed only one earned run all spring. ... Jose Veras did not pitch well, but thanks to Brett Gardner and the wind, was able to record the save. In one inning he gave up one run on one hit and a walk, and struck out one. Two of the outs were long fly balls that were tracked down by Brett Gardner.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rasner	4.0	2	0	0	1	4	0	5.84
Rivera	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.80
Ramirez	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.26
Bruney	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.84
Ohlendorf (W, 1-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1.35
Veras (S, 1)	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	7.20

RAYS PITCHING

Besides a double by Bobby Abreu (1-for-1, 2 BB), and singles by Melky Cabrera (1-for-1, BB) and Robinson Cano (1-for-3), the Yankees offense did nothing until the bottom of the 8th inning when they scored their only two runs. Melky leadoff with a walk (Brett Gardner pinch ran), a Shelley Duncan (1-for-1, R) singled, and Jason Lane walked to load the bases. Following a Cody Ransom strike out, Greg Porter (0-for-1, RBI) grounded into a force out to drive in the first run. Bernie Castro then capped off the scoring with an RBI-single.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.256
Duncan, 1B	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.361
Jeter, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.222
Lane, LF	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.263
Abreu, RF	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	.484
Ransom, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.273
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.452
Porter, RF	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	.304
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.367
Castro, B, 2B	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.294
Ensberg, DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.270
Cano, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.444
Green, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Moeller, C	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.174
Molina, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.300
Cabrera, CF	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	.368
1-Gardner, B, PR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.393
Totals	28	2	5	2	5	3	17
1-Ran for Cabrera in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (3, Sonnanstine). TB: Duncan; Abreu 2; Castro, B; Cano; Cabrera. RBI: Porter (6), Castro, B (2). 2-out RBI: Castro, B. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Jeter; Damon; Giambi; Ensberg. GIDP: Giambi. Team LOB: 7.

RAYS OFFENSE

The Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow afternoon at Steinbrenner Field. Starting for the Yankees will be left hander Kei Igawa (hopefully it's not sunny). First pitch is set for 1:15 p.m., and the game can be seen on YES and MLB.TV, and heard on WCBS 880.