NEW YORK – B.J. Upton homered and drove in three runs to back the strong pitching of Jeff Niemann as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Thursday and kept Derek Jeter two hits short of the milestone mark of 3,000.
The loss dropped the Yankees out of first place in the American League East as the Boston Red Sox leapfrogged them with a 10-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
The victory lifted the Rays to 49-39, three games behind New York in the AL East standings.
Niemann went seven and one-third innings, giving up one run on six hits to improve to 4-4 on the season.