It’s crazy how things work out sometimes. Yankees ace CC Sabathia was chastised by the New York media for allowing 4 runs in 6.2 innings Friday. Unfortunately, James Shields, who has at times been considered the Rays’ ace, was a tick worse on Saturday. Shields’ outing went wrong in the second inning as he allowed a 2-run home run to Curtis  Granderson, his 39th of the season, and a solo shot to Eduardo Nunez, his first. Shields mostly settled down after that, but the Rays could not put anything together against Ivan Nova, managing just a hit and a walk over the first 4 innings. The Rays stranded 2 in the 5th before Shields allowed one final run on a Derek Jeter RBI single to make it 4-0 New York. Only then did the Rays finally get some offense.

Evan Longoria got the Rays on the board in the 6th with a solo home run to make it 4-1, and the Rays got Nova out of the game in the 7th. Nova departed after a Jeff Keppinger single to begin the inning with Boone Logan entering the game for the Yankees. Then Ben Francisco failed to execute a sacrifice bunt as Logan threw to second base for the force on Keppinger. But Ryan Roberts then doubled off of Logan before Sam Fuld, who pinch-hit for Chris Gimenez who had pinch-hit for Carlos Pena, grounded out against Joba Chamberlain, who had entered the game for Logan to necessitate the second pinch-hitter. But the Rays did get a huge 2-out hit by Luke Scott, who pinch-hit for Jose Molina with a 2-run single to make it a 4-3 game. Desmond Jennings struck out to end the inning but you have to wonder how the inning would have changed if Francisco had executed the bunt.

Kyle Farnsworth relieved Shields with 1 out in the 7th for the Rays and got out of the inning without a run. Shields went 6.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1. David Robertson retired the Rays in order in the 8th before Jake McGee, who has been automatic for the Rays of late, saw his streak of 8 straight strikeouts end on a Derek Jeter lineout before a Robinson Cano double and an Alex Rodriguez single gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead. In the 9th against Rafael Soriano, the Rays got a Ben Francisco RBI single and a Stephen Vogt walk in his first big league plate appearance since April, but Soriano struck Elliot Johnson to end it as the Yankees won 5-3. Nova (12-7) earned the win with a great outing in his return from the DL, Shields (14-9) took the loss, and Soriano nailed down his 39th save. The

Mark Teixeira kicked off the scoring against Rays starter Alex Cobb. With one out in the bottom of the second inning, Teixeira lined a home run deep to right to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Robinson Cano doubled that score with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth inning, putting the Yankees advantage at 2-0.

Those two home runs were the only hits Cobb allowed through the first seven innings. Heading out to start the eighth, he simply ran out of gas. After a leadoff single to Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher doubled to right, scoring pinch runner Dewayne Wise to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Eric Chavez followed with a double to deep center, plating Swisher for a 4-0 lead and ending Cobb’s night. He finished having pitched 7+ solid innings, giving up 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4 batters.

Ivan Nova, meanwhile, was even more dominant. After giving up a leadoff single to Desmond Jennings in the top of the first, he did not allow another hit until Sean Rodriguez hit a double with one out in the top of the eighth inning.

The Rays finally scored in the top of the ninth. Nova came back out to try to finish the shutout, and Desmond Jennings led off the inning with a triple. B.J. Upton followed with another triple, cutting the lead to 4-1. Former Ray Rafael Soriano entered the game, and ended the threat, preserving the 4-1 victory for the Yankees.

With the loss, the Rays now find themselves in third place in the AL East, a game out of first.

Game notes: Ben Zobrist now has had only 1 extra base hit in his past 18 games. The 6 baserunners given up by Cobb were the fewest he had allowed since June 18, 2011, when he gave up 3 hits and 2 walks in 6.1 innings against the Marlins.