New York Yankees 2 — Tampa Bay Rays 5
The long ball proved too much in the 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Control and location was a big flaw in Freddy Garcia’s start tonight. Through 5.1 innings, Garcia walked 4 along with 5 hits. Walks played a big role in the runs allowed by Garcia. To leadoff the game, Desmond Jennings walked and stole 2nd base. He would come around to score on B.J. Upton’s double to follow. His next walk came with 2 outs to Ben Zobrist and the batter that followed him was Evan Longoria. One of the biggest offensive contributors took Garcia deep for a 2-run home run to make the veteran pitcher pay for his walk. The home run would also hurt the Yankees in the 5th inning when Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton led off with back-to-back home runs. The 3 home runs that Garcia gave up accounted for 4 of the 5 runs that the Yankees allowed. The silver lining of this game would be the solid work by the bullpen. Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings. Joba Chamberlain also pitched an outstanding 8th inning with 2 strikeouts and nearly pinpoint control.
The Yankees offense got off to the right start when Robinson Cano made Rays starter Alex Cobb pay for the 2-out walk to Nick Swisher by hitting a 2-run home run. Prior to the game, there were questions of whether Cano would play after a minor injury in the 8th inning of yesterday’s game but quickly showed he was okay. Unfortunately, the offense was not okay. On a called 3rd strike to Chris Dickerson that ended the 4th inning, Joe Girardi had an argument with home plate umpire, Tony Randazzo, which got him ejected. After the ejection, the Yankees offense got even worse as 10 straight would be out until Derek Jeter’s 2nd hit of the game came in the 8th inning. But nothing would come of it as Curtis Grarnderson and Nick Swisher would strikeout swinging to end that inning. An Alex Rodriguez single in the 9th would also not become anything as the Yankees lose the game and more.
With this loss and the Baltimore Orioles win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees have lost sole possession of first place and are now tied with the Orioles.
Win – Alex Cobb (9-8)
Loss – Freddy Garcia (7-6)
Save – Fernando Rodney (42)
Notables
Yankees
*Robinson Cano – 1 for 4, R, 2-Run Home Run (29) in the 1st, 2 RBI (73)
*Derek Jeter – 2 for 4
Rays
*B.J. Upton – 2 for 4, R, 2B, Solo Home Run (18) in the 5th, 2 RBI (63)
*Evan Longoria – 1 for 3, R, BB, 2-Run Home Run (10) in the 3rd, 2 RBI (38)
Current Yankees Record: 76-59
