Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
NY Yankees 4, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:05 PM ET, Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Temperature: 66°
Umpires: Home - Marvin Hudson, 1B - Chad Fairchild, 2B - Jim Joyce, 3B - Greg Gibson
Attendance: 36934

NEW YORK -- Catcher Brian McCann drove in three runs and Chase Whitley pitched five innings as the New York Yankees held on for a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

McCann drove in New York's final three runs by doubling in first baseman Mark Teixeira in the first inning against Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi (2-2) and adding a two-run double with two outs in the fifth.

McCann's second straight night with a big hit helped the Yankees win for the 10th time in 12 games. Left fielder Brett Gardner preceded McCann's first double with a run-scoring groundout.

The win also came on a night when New York general manager Brian Cashman announced that Masahiro Tanaka will miss about a month due to right wrist tendinitis and a mild strain of his right forearm.

Whitley (1-0), who was among the last cuts in spring training, was originally slated to make a spot start to give Tanaka an extra day of rest. Instead, he will enter the rotation in place of Tanaka.

In his season debut, Whitley allowed one run and six hits. He struck out five, walked one and threw 65 of 93 pitches for strikes.

Lefty Chasen Shreve allowed a run while getting one out in the sixth. Right-hander Esmil Rogers pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, getting designated hitter Tim Beckham on a called strike three with a runner in scoring position for the final out of the eighth.

Righty Chris Martin gave up a hit in the ninth but struck out shortstop Asbrubal Cabrera to secure his first career save.

Tampa Bay stranded 10 and scored its runs Cabrera's double in the third and second baseman Logan Forsythe's triple in the sixth.

Odorizzi allowed four runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings as Tampa Bay fell to 0-5 against the Yankees this year.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury singled, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Rene Rivera and scored on a groundout by Gardner. New York went ahead on a double by McCann down the right-field line that scored Teixeira.

Whitley allowed three straight one-out singles in the second but got out of it. First baseman James Loney was unable to advance on a shallow fly ball by designated hitter Tim Beckham and Rivera grounded out.

Tampa Bay scored on a one-out double by Cabrera, who reached third on a wild pitch. Whitley finished the third by getting consecutive strikeouts of third baseman Evan Longoria and Loney.

The Yankees took a 4-1 lead on a two-run double by McCann with one out in the fifth.

NOTES: New York DH Alex Rodriguez was originally going to play the entire homestand, but that changed when he played third base on Monday. Rodriguez spent time before the game guiding SS Didi Gregorius during early infield practice. ... To get RHP Chase Whitley on the roster, the Yankees optioned IF Gregorio Petit to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That left the Yankees without a backup middle infielder, but IF Jose Pirela might be activated shortly from the seven-day concussion list. ... Tampa Bay OF Desmond Jennings missed his third straight game with knee soreness, though manager Kevin Cash said he was getting better. ... Tampa Bay LHP Jake McGee (offseason elbow surgery) made his first rehab appearance for Class A Charlotte. ... The Rays added LHP Xavier Cedeno to the roster and designated LHP Everett Teaford for assignment.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   NY Yankees
Jake Odorizzi Player Chase Whitley
Loss W/L Win
6.1 IP 5.0
4 Strikeouts 5
9 Hits 6
5.68 ERA 1.80
Hitting
Tampa Bay   NY Yankees
James Loney Player Jacoby Ellsbury
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 3
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 9 0 13 .250 19 12 2 3 0 1
NY Yankees 9 0 12 .273 10 6 4 1 3 0