Yanks Cruise to 7-4 Victory Over Rangers

The Yankees (10-6) cruised to a 7-4 victory on Monday night over the Texas Rangers (13-4) in the first game of a three game series.  C.C. Sabathia had arguably his most complete start of the season and the Yankee bats remained hot coming off the two game series in Boston over the weekend. Sabathia pitched a solid eight innings giving up four runs on seven hits and struck out eight. Sabathia’s start has to be relieving for the team and fans while the starting pitching including C.C. has been shaky and inconsistent to start the season.

The Yankee offense continued its tear on Monday night against Rangers starter Derek Holland. Derek Jeter who is off to the best start of his career picked up four more hits including a RBI double, and two runs scored. He is now hitting .411 to start the season. Alex Rodriguez connected for a three-run blast in the fifth inning against his former team, his third homer of the season.  Robinson Cano also picked up two hits and scored twice. Ranger’s starter Derek Holland pitched six innings gave up seven runs on nine hits and walked four.

The Ranger offense struggled early on against Sabathia and only managing five hits through the first six innings. In the seventh Sabathia walked Nelson Cruz to start the inning then gave up back to back doubles to Brandon Snyder and Craig Gentry scoring two runs. Josh Hamilton belted a solo-shot off Sabathia in the sixth giving him eight on the season. Elvis Andrus chipped in with two singles.

Mariano Rivera came on for a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fourth save of the season.

The Yankees and the Rangers square off again Tuesday night. Hiroki Kuroda (1-2 5.00) will face Japanese phenom Yu Darvish (2-0 3.57). You can catch all the action here on 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio, pregame at 7:30 first pitch at 8:05.