Atlanta, GA – Alex Rodriguez doubled and scored twice, Raul Ibanez homered and Ivan Nova won his fourth straight start while leading the New York Yankees over the Atlanta Braves, 3-0, on Monday.
Nova (8-2) gave up just five hits and a walk while striking out six over seven innings in the opener of the three-game interleague series.
Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who were coming off a three-game sweep of the Mets and have won seven of their last eight and 14 of 18.
"We've been playing some great ball," said Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher, who saved a potential two-run homer with a leaping grab at the wall. "We're having a blast. We're getting great pitching, getting timely hitting, and like I said we're just having a blast right now.
"I think we're starting to warm up a little bit now. We're just trying to get all the guys rocking and rolling at the same time and I feel like with this lineup, when that happens, it's going to be a lot of fun."
Braves starter Randall Delgado (4-6) allowed three runs on five hits and six walks in five innings to take the loss, Atlanta's second in a row after a six- game winning streak.
Nova got double plays in the first and third innings to erase singles and didn't allow a runner past second base.
Swisher jumped at the wall to catch a long fly ball by Brian McCann in the fourth inning that may have been a two-run homer.
"Close game all night," said Braves reliever Cory Gearrin, who pitched the sixth and seventh. "The ball takes a hop one way or the other, we've got a tie game.
"[McCann] obviously got into that ball tonight. The wind was blowing. A hair more, that's a two-run homer."
Nova, who has gotten plenty of run support this season, turned in his second strong performance in a row after giving up one run in eight innings against Tampa Bay last Wednesday.
He had allowed 31 runs in his previous seven starts, but Monday trimmed his ERA from 5.09 to 4.64 for the season.
Cody Eppley and Clay Rapada combined for a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Cory Wade and Boone Logan pitched a perfect ninth.
Meanwhile, the Yankees scored a run in each of the first three innings.
Rodriguez hit a two-out double in the first and scored on Cano's single to center while Ibanez led off the second with a homer to right, his 10th of the season.
In the third, Rodriguez walked with one out, went to third on Cano's double and scored later on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
It gave Rodriguez 1,858 career runs, one shy of tying Mel Ott for 11th place on the all-time list.
Game Notes
This is the first series between the teams since the Yankees took two of three at Atlanta from June 23-25, 2009...The teams will play three games at Yankee Stadium from June 18-20...The Yankees started a six-game road trip...The Braves are 2-2 on a nine-game homestand.
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