AMERICAN LEAGUE

Gardner's late blast spoils Rays' rookie's debut

YANKEES 3, RAYS 2

NEW YORK -- Right off the bat, Brett Gardner knew it was gone.

Gardner hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New York Yankees a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday in the major league debut of Rays top pitching prospect Blake Snell.

Gardner singled home the tying run in the seventh and then connected on a 3-1 pitch from Erasmo Ramirez (4-1) two innings later, pointing toward the Yankees' dugout as he trotted to first base and the ball soared into the second deck in right field. The outfielder was swarmed by teammates at home plate and doused in the postgame interview on the field.

"I put a good swing on it," Gardner said. "I felt good at the plate. I felt like I was seeing the ball well."

Andrew Miller (1-0) worked a scoreless inning for the victory, getting a double-play grounder to end the ninth.

Masahiro Tanaka gave New York seven quality innings opposite Snell, a slim left-hander who allowed 1 run and 2 hits in 5 innings, striking out 6 and walking 1.

"Just an outstanding effort," Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. "There's a lot of anxiety that goes on for a debut. I thought he really handled it well."

Snell was selected the minor league player of the year last season by Baseball America and USA Today after going 15-4 with a 1.41 ERA at three levels. He struck out 163 in 134 innings and could be the next ace in line for a Tampa Bay team with a strong track record of developing All-Star starters, from Scott Kazmir and James Shields to David Price and Chris Archer.

Snell, 23, was optioned back to Class AAA Durham after the game, as expected. He got called up to make a spot start in place of Ramirez, who won in relief Thursday.

With a brief opportunity to impress, Snell did just that with his 95 mph fastball and big-breaking curve.

"Looked like it broke about 4 feet," Cash said. "It looked like it started at some batters' eyes."

Snell appeared nervous early on, taking deep breaths during his warmups and throughout a 24-pitch first inning. New York scored on a wild pitch that catcher Hank Conger probably could have blocked, but Snell escaped when left fielder Desmond Jennings made a leaping catch at the left-field fence of a long drive by Alex Rodriguez -- one of Snell's favorite players while growing up in the Seattle area.

"I felt like I just had to calm myself down and get into my rhythm," Snell said. "It was more like I was anxious and trying to do too much, and then after that I kind of felt that I got more into my groove."

Kevin Kiermaier hit a home run off the right-field foul pole for the Rays. Corey Dickerson had three hits, including an RBI double.

Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, the Yankees drew two walks against Tampa Bay's bullpen and loaded the bases with two outs when Jacoby Ellsbury reached on catcher's interference for the third time this season and 17th time in his career.

"That gave us an opportunity," Manager Joe Girardi said. "He waits a long time with two strikes and protects. It's unfortunate for a catcher, you get whacked in the hand, but it happens."

Gardner then hit a line drive right back at Xavier Cedeno that deflected off the reliever's glove and rolled away for a tying infield single.

"Not how you would draw it up," Gardner said. "But at this point, we'll take it any way we can get it."

BLUE JAYS 9, ATHLETICS 3 Troy Tulowitzki hit two solo home runs, Josh Donaldson added a three-run blast as Toronto snapped Oakland's six-game winning streak. J.A. Happ (3-0) allowed 3 runs and 7 hits in 7 innings to win his third consecutive start.

INDIANS 10, TIGERS 1 Corey Kluber struck out 10 over eight innings, Yan Gomes hit a home run and drove in five runs, and Cleveland routed Detroit. Kluber (1-3), the 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner who went 9-16 last year, gave up 2 hits and no walks in 8 innings.

WHITE SOX 4, RANGERS 3 (11) Slump-ridden Jose Abreu hit an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, leading Chicago over Texas. After Texas tied it in the ninth on Elvis Andrus' sacrifice fly off David Robertson, the White Sox went on to win for the fourth time in five games.

ASTROS 8, RED SOX 3 Colby Rasmus hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the fifth inning to lead Houston over Boston that snapped a four-game skid. Rasmus drove in a fifth run with a double in Houston's three-run eighth for his most RBI since he had six on June 2, 2011.

INTERLEAGUE

NATIONALS 2, TWINS 0 Tanner Roark struck out a career-high 15 and allowed 2 hits over 7 innings in a dominating performance that carried Washington past Minnesota. Roark and three relievers combined to strike out 18, the most by Washington since its arrival from Montreal in 2005.

Sports on 04/24/2016

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