Nova notches shutout as Yanks down Giants
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ivan Nova recorded the second shutout of his career and the New York Yankees handled the San Francisco Giants, 6-0, in the second test of a three-game series.
Nova (9-5) gave up six hits while striking out seven for the Yankees, who are three games behind the Indians for the second wild card spot in the AL. The right-hander also threw a shutout on Aug. 31 against the Orioles.
"Every time you go out there, you hope to have a good game," said Nova, who logged his third career complete game. "If you have a complete game, it's a great feeling, especially for the time that we are in."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eduardo Nunez and Alfonso Soriano homered for New York, which has won the first two games of this series.
Ryan Vogelsong (3-6) allowed five runs on five hits over five innings for the Giants, who went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.
The Giants left a runner on second in the second inning. Pablo Sandoval hit a one-out double to right-center field before Nova retired Hector Sanchez and Brandon Crawford.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Yankees scored all the runs they needed in the third. Mark Reynolds led off with a bloop single to left, Brendan Ryan singled to left-center field and Chris Stewart walked to load the bases. Ichiro Suzuki followed with a sacrifice fly that left runners on second and third. Alex Rodriguez's RBI groundout and Robinson Cano's run-scoring single to left-center field made it 3-0.
"He got off to a good start, but then [Vogelsong] makes a few bad pitches and we get behind," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "They put up a crooked number and he was just off today."
In the fourth, San Francisco got a leadoff double from Brandon Belt. Once again, Nova settled down and retired the next three batters to keep the Giants off the board.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nunez clubbed a two-run homer to left in the bottom half to make it a 5-0 contest, one batter after Curtis Granderson led off with a single.
Soriano added a solo homer in the sixth, giving him 17 homers and 50 RBI in 52 games since joining the Yankees in a late July trade. He also hit 17 homers in 93 games with the Cubs earlier in the season.
San Francisco did not advance a runner past first over the final five innings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
The Yankees went 1-for-5 with RISP and stranded four ... New York pitcher Andy Pettitte, who announced Friday that he will retire following the 2013 season, will make his final home start on Sunday.