TAMPA (620 WDAE) -- The Tampa Bay Rays got two shutout innings from Nathan Eovaldi and three hits from Mallex Smith as they defeated the New York Yankees 9-1 Sunday at Steinbrenner Field.
Eovaldi allowed a one-out single by Aaron Judge in the first and a two-out base hit from Billy McKinney in the second, and also struck out a pair in a 28-pitch outing, throwing 21 strikes.
Denard Span got the scoring started in the third inning, as Aroldis Chapman hit Jake Cronenworth with a pitch. Smith then singled him up a base and Kevin Kiermaier's fielder's choice moved him to third. Span then lifted a sacrifice fly that brought in the shortstop for a 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay added three more runs in the fourth off Ben Heller and Raynel Espinal, with Cronenworth reaching on a throwing error by Danny Espinosa, followed by an RBI single by Smith, his third hit of the afternoon, and an RBI double by Kiermaier to make it 4-0.
Johnny Monell's RBI double in the fifth extended the Rays' lead to 5-0 in the fifth.
New York got a sacrifice fly from Tyler Wade in the home half of the fifth to get on the scoreboard, but David Olmedo-Barrera doubled in Jason Coats in the sixth to get the run back.
Peter Maris' three-run homer in the ninth set the score.
The Rays also saw Cody Hall, Chaz Roe, Yonny Chirinos, Matt Andriese, Austin Pruitt and Ryan Weber get scoreless innings in relief.
Tampa Bay will have Monday off before returning to Port Charlotte Tuesday to take on the Boston Red Sox.
Listen to comments from manager Kevin Cash, starter Nathan Eovaldi and outfielder Mallex Smith below!