The New York Yankees (92–61) suffered a tough 10–3 loss on a hot Thursday night in the Bronx against their AL East rivals the Tampa Bay Rays (91–61), tying the four-game series 2–2.
C.C. Sabathia (20–7) had a rough night, pitching for 5.1 innings and getting yanked after a breakdown in the top of the sixth.
With the score tied at 3–3, the Rays loaded the bases against Sabathia, who then walked in a run to give the Rays the lead.
It was only Sabathia’s second walked in run of the season, and it cost him the rest of the inning as Joe Girardi immediately replaced him with Joba Chamberlain.
Chamberlain couldn’t stop the bleeding, though. He immediately gave up a ground-rule double to B.J. Upton to bring in two more Rays. Then Carl Crawford hit a single to right field to add two more and pull the Rays up 8–3.
Chamberlain closed out the inning but the Yankees would never recover from that five-run blitz.
Reliever Javier Vazquez came on for the Yankees in the top of the seventh and hit three-straight Rays batters and walked in a run in a remarkable loss of control of his pitches. The Rays got in another run from a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 10–3.
Marcus Thames got the Yankees off to a good start with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning, driving in Robinson Cano.
The Yanks and Rays exchanged runs in the third and fifth innings, but then the Rays broke it open in the top of the sixth and never looked back.
Sabathia took the loss, giving up 10 hits and seven runs. David Price got the win for the Rays, pitching for six innings and giving up six hits and three runs, including the only homer of the night from Thames.
The loss pulls the Rays back to within a half game of the Yankees.
That makes the next two weeks all the more important because the Yankees only have nine games ahead of them while the Rays have 10; that one extra game could help Tampa Bay make up the difference.
The Yankees head into a three-game series Friday in the Bronx against their old rivals the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox have had mixed results these past two weeks and are out of the playoffs, but have a 9–8 record against the Yanks this season so it will not be an easy series by any means.
The Rays head into a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday. They are tied 2–2 against the AL West bottom feeders this season, who have had a rough last couple of weeks suffering two three-game sweeps against the L.A. Angels and Boston Red Sox.
C.C. Sabathia (20–7) had a rough night, pitching for 5.1 innings and getting yanked after a breakdown in the top of the sixth.
With the score tied at 3–3, the Rays loaded the bases against Sabathia, who then walked in a run to give the Rays the lead.
It was only Sabathia’s second walked in run of the season, and it cost him the rest of the inning as Joe Girardi immediately replaced him with Joba Chamberlain.
Chamberlain couldn’t stop the bleeding, though. He immediately gave up a ground-rule double to B.J. Upton to bring in two more Rays. Then Carl Crawford hit a single to right field to add two more and pull the Rays up 8–3.
Chamberlain closed out the inning but the Yankees would never recover from that five-run blitz.
Reliever Javier Vazquez came on for the Yankees in the top of the seventh and hit three-straight Rays batters and walked in a run in a remarkable loss of control of his pitches. The Rays got in another run from a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 10–3.
Marcus Thames got the Yankees off to a good start with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning, driving in Robinson Cano.
The Yanks and Rays exchanged runs in the third and fifth innings, but then the Rays broke it open in the top of the sixth and never looked back.
Sabathia took the loss, giving up 10 hits and seven runs. David Price got the win for the Rays, pitching for six innings and giving up six hits and three runs, including the only homer of the night from Thames.
The loss pulls the Rays back to within a half game of the Yankees.
That makes the next two weeks all the more important because the Yankees only have nine games ahead of them while the Rays have 10; that one extra game could help Tampa Bay make up the difference.
The Yankees head into a three-game series Friday in the Bronx against their old rivals the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox have had mixed results these past two weeks and are out of the playoffs, but have a 9–8 record against the Yanks this season so it will not be an easy series by any means.
The Rays head into a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday. They are tied 2–2 against the AL West bottom feeders this season, who have had a rough last couple of weeks suffering two three-game sweeps against the L.A. Angels and Boston Red Sox.
