Yankees Win In Nova’s Return; Regain AL East Lead

Ivan Nova returned for his first start in nearly a month to lead the Yankees past the Rays 5-3 on Saturday, and coupled with Baltimore's loss, New York retook sole possession of the AL East division lead.

Nova (12-7) yielded two runs on four hits through six innings while striking out eight.

Eduardo Nunez hit a solo homer in the second to follow Curtis Granderson's 38th round tripper of the year, a two run shot off Rays' starter James Shields.

Derek Jeter added an RBI single in the fifth and Alex Rodriguez did the same in the eighth.

Rafael Soriano worked around a hit and a walk to earn save No. 39.

Shields (14-9) was charged with four earned runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings.

The Orioles 5-2 loss to the A's give the bombers a one game advantage with each team having 17 games left on the schedule.