PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Ivan Nova continued to make a case to be the New York Yankees' fifth starter by pitching four scoreless innings Tuesday during a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nova allowed four hits, walked none and struck out two in his third exhibition start. The right-hander who faltered down the stretch last season has allowed one run over nine innings this spring.
The Yankees scored three runs in the eighth, two of them on Bobby Wilson's pinch-hit single. Mike Fontenot drove in Tampa Bay's run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.
On a day the Rays selected AL Cy Young Award winner David Price as their opening day starter, right-hander Alex Cobb built on a solid spring showing by working five scoreless innings.
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