New York Yankees 0 — Tampa Bay Rays 3
Yankees held to four hits in tonight’s 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Andy Pettitte started tonight’s game, looking to continue his undefeated start to the season. Entering the fifth inning, Pettitte had kept the Rays off the scoreboard and even struck out seven, but a leadoff hit batter would start turning things in the favor of the Rays. Kelly Johnson would hit a single on the ground to right field that Brennan Boesch would overrun, allowing the slow-footed Jose Molina to advance to third and Johnson to second. With no outs, it was looking very bad for the Yankees left-hander. Strikeouts of Desmond Jennings and Ryan Roberts would seem to turn the momentum. Ben Zobrist would come up with a two-run double for the first runs of the game.
Entering tonight, Ben Zobrist was hitting .368 (7 for 19) with two home runs and four runs batted in. Only one of the two runs would be earned due to the error by Brennan Boesch. Andy Pettitte would give up a leadoff home run to Sean Rodriguez in the sixth inning to give the Rays a three-run lead.
In six innings, Andy Pettitte would allow three runs (two earned) on seven hits with one walk. He would also strikeout 10.
Alex Cobb started for the Rays and silenced the Yankees. Cobb would pitch into the ninth inning and when the Yankees got just their third hit of the game with one out, Cobb would be lifted from the game. Through 8.1 innings, Cobb allowed three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Closer Fernando Rodney would take over with one on and one out. Rodney would seek retribution against the first batter he faced tonight, Ichiro Suzuki. The Yankees were victorious on this encounter last night and Ichiro succeeded again with a single to right field. Robinson Cano would come up as the tying run but he would ground out. Travis Hafner would be the Yankees last chance but a pop out would end the game.
What will not show up in the box score is Eduardo Nunez’s sparkling defense. Yes, I just said that in a positive way. In the second inning, shortstop Yunel Escobar hit a ground ball to the left of Nunez that required a sliding stop and pop up to throw a line drive to Overbay to get the out. Then in the sixth inning, a ground ball by Jose Molina to the hole between third and short would require Nunez to show range and arm strength to get the batter at first. It likely benefited Nunez to have Molina running but it was a great play regardless.
The Yankees would finish this six-game road trip with a 3-3 record.
Win – Alex Cobb (3-1)
Loss – Andy Pettitte (3-1)
Save – Fernando Rodney (3)
Notables
Yankees
*Jayson Nix – 1 for 3
*Eduardo Nunez – 1 for 3
Rays
*Ben Zobrist – 2 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI (15)
*Sean Rodriguez -2 for 3, R, Solo Home Run (1) in the 6th, RBI (6)
Current Yankees Record: 11-9
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