Nova's Gem Leads Yanks' to Victory

Ivan Nova delivers a pitch in the 1st inning against the Rays on Wednesday (Getty Images)

Ivan Nova followed Andy Pettittes performance last night with a gem of his own in the 4-1 victory against the Rays Wednesday night. 

Nova allowed 1 run on just 4 hist in 8 innings of work. He struck out 5 and walked only 1. Nova pitched to two batters in the 9th, but gave up back-to-back triples to Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton. Going into the 9th inning, Nova allowed only 2 hits. He finished the game with 103 pitches, in which 69 of those were for strikes. His ERA dropped from 5.60 to 5.09. 

This was easily Nova's best outing of the year. 

Rafael Soriano came on in the 9th inning and notched his 8th save of the year. 

The Yankees offense was able to score some runs tonight. Both Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano hit solo home runs to right field. Mark Teixeira hit his in the 2nd inning and Robinson Cano hit his in the 4th inning. 

Nick Swisher hit a RBI double in the 8th inning following a lead off base hit by Raul Ibanez. Swisher was 1 for 3 on the night. 

Eric Chavez followed Nick Swisher with a RBI double of his own. Chavez was also 1 for 3 on the night. 

The Yankees and Rays will conclude their series tomorrow with a battle of the aces. C.C. Sabathia will go up against David Price.