NEW YORK -- His day done, Zoilo Almonte stood in a corner of the Yankees clubhouse and pulled out a cellphone. As his teammates showered up, got dressed and left, the rookie lingered in his dirt-smudged uniform, talking away. There was plenty for him to talk about. Almonte provided much-needed pop in his first major league start, homering and adding two singles Friday night that led New York over the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2. "It was a sign that things are starting to be where they should be," Almonte said through a translator. Almonte started in place of slumping left fielder Vernon Wells and quickly delivered, a day after getting a pinch single for his first hit. The 24-year-old was promoted from Triple-A this week, joining an injury-ravaged team thats had trouble scoring. "Im still a little nervous. Its not easy for me," he said. Almonte also showed off a strong arm in helping the Yankees win for the third time in 10 games. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he admired Almontes "pretty swing" a couple of years ago in spring training. Almonte pressed in camp this season, did well in the minors -- hitting .297 with six home runs and 36 RBIs -- and earned this opportunity. "Hes been on our radar for a while," Girardi said, later adding, "the time has arrived." David Phelps (5-4) beat Roberto Hernandez (4-8) and the Rays for the second time in a month. Tampa Bay was trying for its first three-game winning streak in June. Phelps gave up two runs in 5 2-3 innings. The Yankees used four relievers to finish it, with Mariano Rivera closing in a non-save situation. Before Almontes solo homer in the sixth inning made it 5-2, the Yankees played a lot of small ball. Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly in the first and Ichiro Suzuki got an RBI with a soft comebacker in the third. The next inning, Jayson Nix grounded into a bases-loaded double play for a 3-2 lead and David Adams followed with an infield hit for another run. "We werent awful tonight," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We just had some bad baseball luck on our side." The switch-hitting Almonte went 3 for 4, making him 4 for 6 in the majors. His home run sailed over the right-centre wall and was caught on the fly in the Yankees bullpen by coach Mike Harkey. Almonte said he would have his teammates sign the ball, then present it to his mother. Asked if hed ever had a better day, he said: "Today and when my son was born." Almonte got a hug from Cano, his fellow Dominican, when he reached the dugout. Cheered by festive fans on a pleasant first night of summer, Almonte emerged for a brief curtain call. Lyle Overbay singled home a run with two outs in the Yankees eighth. That gave Almonte one more at-bat, but he struck out. Ben Zobrist hit an RBI single in the Tampa Bay third. Luke Scott hit a single that made it 2-all in the fourth and the Rays went on to load the bases with one out. Matt Joyce hit a fly ball that Almonte caught on the run at medium depth, and his swift throw forced Scott to hold at third base. Desmond Jennings flied out to end the threat. NOTES: Rays LHP David Price (left triceps strain) gave up two runs and two hits in 2 1-3 innings for Class-A Charlotte in his first rehabilitation start. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner struck out four and walked two. ... RHP Alex Colome will be promoted from Triple-A to start for the Rays on Saturday. In his only big league appearance, he didnt permit an earned run in 5 2-3 innings and beat Miami on May 30. ... LHP CC Sabathia (7-5, 3.93 ERA) starts Saturday for the Yankees. Hes lost twice to the Rays this season and four straight times overall. ... The Rays signed first-round draft pick Nick Ciuffo. The 18-year-old catcher from South Carolina will join Tampa Bays team in the rookie level Gulf Coast League. ... Only one other major leaguer has had the first name of Zoilo -- 1965 AL MVP Zoilo Versalles. ... Wells is in a 9-for-87 rut. Custom Garrett Bradbury Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Custom Vikings T-shirts .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. http://www.customvikingsjersey.com/ . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. Vikings Jerseys China .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. 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Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is unlikely to rest stars Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk even if the Storm seal a top-two NRL finish with a win this weekend over Manly.The ladder-leading Storm sit five points ahead of third-placed Canberra and can secure a crucial home final in week one of the playoffs with victory over the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night in round 24.However, Bellamy said on Wednesday he feared his sides continuity and momentum could be affected if representative stars Smith and Cronk took a rest over the final fortnight of the regular season.They are getting through it all pretty well at the moment, Bellamy said at Storm training at Sydneys Coogee Oval.They are feeling well and they are playing well and we feel we need those boys playing because we need a bit of practice with our attack.We havent scored a whole heap of points the last three or four weeks and we think that needs sharpening up a bit.It is hard to sharpen that up in match conditions if you havent got your halfback and dummy-half there.Bellamy said the Storm had learned from their ill-fated 2011 campaign, after they rested Smith, Cronk and Billy Slater for their final game of the season against Sydney Roosters, having already wrapped up a top-twwo finish.ddddddddddddThe Storm were belted 40-8 by the 11th-placed Roosters in that game, a result that Bellamy said hurt them coming into the finals.Under the old finals system, minor premiers the Storm struggled to beat eight-placed Newcastle at AAMI Park in the first week of the finals in 2011 and were then sensationally dumped out of the premiership race at home two weeks later, losing to the Warriors 20-12 in the preliminary final.Just two weeks before, the Warriors had been thumped 40-10 by Brisbane.A win (over Manly) gives us that option (of resting players), Bellamy said.But I know that in 2011, we rested our Big Three then in the last game of the year and, looking back, I reckon it affected our momentum going into those finals and we were not quite what we expected to be in the finals.You can look at it both ways. At their age, they (Smith and Cronk) are getting a bit old so they need a bit more rest but, the older you get, the more your body adapts.Melbourne have spent the week in Sydney after losing to the Raiders on Monday in Canberra.Both Smith and Cronk are on limited training duties this week. ' ' '