Bronx, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Wil Myers' tie-breaking RBI single was part of a five-run 14th inning that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a third straight win, a 10-5 decision over the New York Yankees in the opener of a three-game series.
After twice blowing late leads to extend the game, the Rays sent 10 men to the plate against reliever Chris Leroux (0-1) to finally record their seventh victory in their last eight visits to Yankee Stadium.
Sean Rodriguez, Brandon Guyer, Yunel Escobar and Ryan Hanigan also knocked in runs in the 14th before Josh Lueke ended the 5-hour, 49-minute marathon by recording the final three outs.
"It was a crazy game," Rays manager Joe Maddon remarked. "There were so many unlikely things that we were able to work through."
Heath Bell (1-1) worked out of a tough jam in the bottom of the 13th to finish off a 2 1/3 scoreless inning stint and earn the win. David Price struck out eight without a walk while permitting just two runs over the first seven frames, but was left with a no-decision after Joel Peralta served up back-to- back solo homers to Mark Teixeira and Alfonso Soriano in the eighth that tied the score at 4-4.
The Rays went back ahead when Evan Longoria singled home Ben Zobrist in the top of the ninth. However, Jacoby Ellsbury forced extra innings with a two-out RBI hit in New York's last at-bat.
Ellsbury finished with four hits and both Soriano and Brian Roberts had three for the Yankees, who also received a two-run homer from Brian McCann in their season-high third consecutive defeat.
Five of Tampa's 20 hits came off of Leroux, who issued a walk to Desmond Jennings to begin the 14th. Jennings promptly stole second to get into scoring range, and Myers finally ended the stalemate with a grounder up the middle that sent home his teammate without a throw.
Rodriguez followed with an RBI double into the left-field corner and came around on Guyer's single for an 8-5 game, with Escobar and Hanigan later tacking on run-scoring singles for good measure.
After Bell snuffed out Yankee threats in both the 11th and 12th innings, New York wasted a golden opportunity to end it in the 13th.
Singles by McCann and Roberts put two on with none out, and Yangervis Solarte hit a grounder to first in which Roberts got out of a rundown to prevent a double play and place both runners in scoring position. Bell got pinch-hitter Brett Gardner to ground weakly to first and keep McCann at third, however, before Derek Jeter bounced back to the mound for the third out.
"We had our opportunities, it didn't happen," Jeter said of the setback. "It would've been a good one to win after all that time. But you have to have a short memory."
Price departed with Tampa Bay owning a 4-2 edge that quickly evaporated within a span of three pitches from Peralta in the eighth, as Soriano followed Teixeira's blast into the right-field seats with a towering shot to left that knotted the score.
Longoria sent the Rays back in front with a one-out single off David Robertson in the ninth that scored Ben Zobrist, who put himself into scoring position by stealing second after an infield hit. Tampa Bay failed to hold the lead once more, though, as Ellsbury came through with a two-out hit against Juan Carlos Oviedo to plate Roberts and tie the contest at 5-5.
Roberts had reached on a leadoff single off Peralta and got to third on a groundout and stolen base.
New York starter Vidal Nuno lasted just 4 2/3 innings and was reached for four runs, three of which came between the fourth and fifth frames as the Rays overcame a 2-1 deficit.
Ellsbury lost a high fly ball off the bat of Longoria in the fourth that resulted in a triple, and Myers followed with a sharp single that evened the game at 2-2. Nuno then walked the next two hitters to load the bases in front of Logan Forsythe's go-ahead sac fly.
Jennings ended Nuno's evening with an opposite-field homer into the Yankee bullpen with two out in the fifth to extend the Rays' advantage to 4-2. Price made it temporarily hold up by scattering three hits over his final three innings of work.
The Rays opened the scoring when Rodriguez doubled in the top of the second and came around on a James Loney base hit, but McCann connected for his fourth homer of the season after a Soriano single in New York's half of the inning.
Game Notes
The game was the 1,000th for Yankees manager Joe Girardi as the club's skipper, making him the sixth in franchise history to reach the milestone ... Rays manager Joe Maddon was ejected in the top of the 13th inning after arguing a replay call that Girardi successfully challenged ... Price's effort ended a string of nine straight games in which Tampa starting pitchers went six innings or less, the team's longest stretch since June 11-22, 2010 (10 games) ... McCann also homered off Price, who has served up eight long balls in his seven starts, in a 10-2 Yankees' win at Tropicana Field on April 17.
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