ST PETERSBURG // AJ Burnett pitched six innings without giving up a hit before his offence broke open a close game in the New York Yankees' 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. Burnett (2-0), who joined the Yankees as a free agent from Toronto, kept the American League champions scoreless until the seventh when the Rays had three consecutive singles to score their two runs. The right-hander struck out nine and walked one.
"He was pretty solid for eight innings," said Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria, who was struck out twice by Burnett. "It's tough as a hitter to give in and tip your hat to a guy, but give credit where credit is due." New York's Mark Teixeira broke the 2-2 deadlock with a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the eighth before the Yankees scored four runs in the ninth, with Derek Jeter hitting a two-out three-run homer.
Nick Swisher also homered for the Yankees, who lost to the Rays 15-5 on Monday. Tampa Bay did not have a hit until Carl Crawford led off the seventh with the first of three consecutive singles. Carlos Pena, with the third single, made it a 2-1 game and Pat Burrell followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score. Burnett, who pitched a no-hitter in 2001, admitted he had been hoping for another. "Everybody was thinking about it, even me," Burnett said.
"I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't. I was putting the ball where I wanted to. It definitely could have happened, but it wasn't meant to be." Brett Gardner, whose ground-rule double provided the Yankees' first run in the fourth, and Jeter both went three-for-five. J P Howell (0-1), who pitched the eighth for Tampa Bay, was given the loss. Starter Matt Garza allowed five hits and two runs over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked two.
Joe Crede showed his new teammates at Minnesota that he was ready to contribute with a game-winning double in extra innings against Toronto Blue Jays. Having spent a rough first two weeks of the season trying to prove his back was fully healed, Crede's second double of the game rebounded off the centre-field fence in the 11th inning to score Justin Morneau from first base, giving the Twins a 3-2 victory over Jays.
"It's definitely a great feeling when you can come through," said Crede, who bounced into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the sixth. "Especially after the sixth inning, to be able to come through in the 11th and help your team win is definitely a great feeling." Glen Perkins held the highest-scoring team in the majors to two runs in eight innings for the Twins, who snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Blue Jays.
Ken Griffey Jr was a winner on his return to Seattle. Franklin Gutierrez hit a lead-off double in the 10th inning and the Mariners got the winning run on a throwing error by the Los Angeles Angels pitcher Scot Shields. Griffey, 39, went one-for-three with a walk in his first home game for the Mariners since 1999. * Agencies
