Yanks Drop an Ugly One to Tampa 6-2

(REUTERS/Scott Audette)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		2	7	2
TB	0	1	2	0	1	2	0	0	X		6	10	0

WP - Scott Kazmir (5-6)
LP - CC Sabathia (10-7)

With all the news about Aceves and Wang last tonight, recapping this stinker of a game isn't my top priority, but I'll do my best.

CC Sabathia got the start and was very mediocre. In 5.2 innings he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned, on 9 hits, walked 2, and struck out 6. He had command issues all night, and was consistently missing up and away, which if you've listened to David Cone and Al Leiter recently, was all the evidence you needed to know he was struggling tonight.

Still, I would have loved to seen how he would have pitched had his defense shown up behind him. Besides the extra outs they gave the Rays, they also made their starter have to work that much harder to get out of those innings. Both Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter committed key throwing errors, both of which were very costly and led to early runs for the Rays. Nick Swisher made three bad plays in the field, first when he misplayed a ball off the wall and turned it into a triple, later in the game he turned another out into another triple, and then finally letting a ball bounce away from him allowing a runner to advance. Meanwhile, the Rays were making all the plays defensively. It was just one of those games, and I guess with the way they've been playing they were due for a game like today.

On the offensive side the Yanks made a struggling Scott Kazmir look like an all-star. He held the Yanks to just 1 runs on 5 hits, and walked 1 and struck out 4 over 7+ scoreless innings. I just love how all these players - Ortiz, Rios, Wells, and now Kazmir - suddenly find themselves when they face the Yankees, don't you?

One bright from tonight's eyesore came from Mark Melancon, who got his first work in in 18 games and looked surprisingly sharp. He pitched two scoreless innings, allowed just one hit, struck out two, and threw 15 of his 20 pitches for strikes.

The Yanks dodged a bullet tonight because up in Boston the A's came back to beat the Sox. First Jonathan Papelbon blew a three-run lead in the ninth, and then the A's scored two in the 11th and eventually won 9-8. So even with tonight's loss the Yanks remain 2.5 games up in the division race.

The Yanks will look to take the rubber game in the series tomorrow night with Joba Chamberlain on the mound. He will be squaring off against Matt Garza of the Rays. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m., and the game can be seen on YES.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.322
Damon, LF	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.276
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.282
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	1	2	0	0	1	1	.252
Matsui, H, DH	4	0	2	2	0	0	1	.256
Posada, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.284
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.309
Swisher, RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.238
Cabrera, Me, CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.287
Totals	31	2	7	2	2	4	10
BATTING 2B: Teixeira (27, Kazmir), Matsui, H (16, Choate). TB: Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 2; Matsui, H 3; Posada; Swisher. RBI: Matsui, H 2 (46). 2-out RBI: Matsui, H. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Posada. GIDP: Jeter; Teixeira. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez, A (7, 2nd base off Kazmir/Navarro). FIELDING E: Jeter (5, throw), Rodriguez, A (6, throw). DP: (Cano-Jeter-Teixeira).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sabathia (L, 10-7)	5.2	9	6	5	2	6	1	3.83
Melancon	2.1	1	0	0	0	2	0	4.50

RAYS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Scott Kazmir (W, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Carl Crawford (2-for-4, 3B, RBI, R)

GOAT OF THE GAME: The Yankees defense

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees @ Rays
Game Time: 7:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (6-2, 3.86) vs. RHP Matt Garza (7-7, 3.68)