Alex Cobb scattered three hits over 8 1-3 innings, Ben Zobrist drove in two runs and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Cobb (3-1) gave up only two hits through the eighth — Eduardo Nunez's second-inning single and an infield single by Jayson Nix in the sixth. The right-hander, who struck out seven and walked one, was replaced by Fernando Rodney after giving up a one-out single in the ninth to Brett Gardner.
After allowing Ichiro Suzuki's single, Rodney completed his third save by retiring Robinson Cano and Travis Hafner.
Zobrist put the Rays up 2-0 on a two-out, two-run double off Andy Pettitte (3-1) in the fifth.
Sean Rodriguez homered for Tampa Bay, which has won 13 of its last 16 homes games against the Yankees dating to July 2011. The Rays have thrown five shutout this season.
Pettitte came up short in his bid to win his first four starts of the season for the first time, giving up three runs and seven hits in six innings. The 40-year old struck out 10, giving him 15 career double-digit strikeout games, and walked one.
Jose Molina was hit in the foot by Pettitte to open the fifth. The catcher advanced to third after Yankees right fielder Brennan Boesch was charged with an error for letting Kelly Johnson's ground single go under his glove. Johnson reached second on the miscue.
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After Pettitte struck out Desmond Jennings and Ryan Roberts, Zobrist, who improved to 9 for 22 against the left-hander, lined his double to center.
Waiting in the on-deck circle when Zobrist got his hit was Tampa Bay slugger Evan Longoria, who was 2 for 20, including two hitless at-bats earlier Wednesday, with 11 strikeouts against Pettitte. Longoria hit an inning-ending grounder to third.
Tampa Bay went ahead 3-0 on a solo homer in the sixth by Rodriguez.
Rays manager Joe Maddon concluded his homestand-long effort to keep his team loose Wednesday by having a pair of penguins, Cliff and Shelly, in the clubhouse before batting practice.
"It's a continuation of our attempt to get our players to chill out a bit," Maddon said.
Maddon featured a cockatoo, which he had in clubhouse and later on his shoulder as he held his pregame media session on Tuesday. Last weekend he had a DJ play music in the clubhouse and a magician do card tricks.
The Rays went 5-1 on the homestand.
