Nova, Yankees blank Braves 3-0

The Yankees (35-25) visited the Atlanta Braves (34-27) at Turner Field on Monday night as interleague play continued and came away with a 3-0 victory thanks to a great performance from Ivan Nova. Nova went seven innings gave up no runs on five hits and struck out six. Nova looked fantastic in the outing and this is coming off a start against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday were he gave up one run on four hits in eight innings of work. The win puts Nova at 8-2. Yankee starting pitching has been great in June going 7-1 with an ERA slightly above 1.

The Yankees got on the board early off of Braves starter Randall Delgado. In the first inning with two outs Alex Rodriguez doubled to deep left field which led to a Robinson Cano RBI single putting the Yankees up 1-0.

In the top of the second a Raul Ibanez lead-off home run put the Yankees up 2-0. Ibanez now has 10 home runs on the season.

In the third inning the Yankees loaded the bases thanks to walks to A-Rod and Mark Teixeira and a Robinson Cano double and had a chance to blow the game open. The Yanks would only come away with one run when Randall Delgado threw a wild pitch scoring A-Rod from third. Delgado went five innings gave up three runs on five hits.

The win put the Yankees ten games above .500 for the first time this season and gave them a share of first place with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

The Yankees will play the Braves again Tuesday night. C.C. Sabathia (7-3 3.69) starts for the Yankees while Mike Minor (3-4 6.57) goes for the Braves. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30, first pitch at 7:10 right here on 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio.