Sunday, July 18, 2010
Rays come out swinging, lose 9-5 to Yankees
Posted by Kevin Tall on Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 9:10 PM
The day began with a three-run blast by Carlos Pena. Most times that means it going to be a great ball game for the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans, except that was one of the last few things to go their way. They left 12 runners on base, including a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the third inning. Gabe Kapler hit a solo shot in the seventh and Matt Joyce doubled Pena home in the top off the ninth; it just wasn’t enough to overcome the New York Yankees, who steamrolled starter David Price for seven runs through five innings and went on to win 9-5.
The Rays started stranding men as early as the first inning; after Pena’s long ball, Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett both singled. Gabe Kapler lined out to third and Kelly Shoppach grounded to the shortstop to leave ‘em hanging. Zobrist struck out to lead off the third before Bartlett and Kapler both singled. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte left the game with a groin injury and reliever David Robertson walked Shoppach to load the bases. Sean Rodriguez popped out to short and Upton flied to right to end that important scoring chance. Crawford singled and stole second in the fourth inning; he was sacrificed to third on Evan Longoria’s fly ball to center but Pena struck out and Zobrist grounded to second to leave yet another Rays runner stranded.
The Yankees hammered Price in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four in the frame that decided the game. After Brett Gardner walked and stole second, he scored on Derek Jeter’s single; Jeter moved to second on a wild pitch by Price. Nick Swisher flied to left to advance the runner and Mark Texeira flied to right, letting Rays fans breathe a little easier until Alex Rodriguez’s two-out single scored Jeter; Robinson Cano walked and Jorge Posada doubled, scoring Rodriguez and Cano before Marcus Thames flied out to left field to end the onslaught. It would be Price’s final pitch of the day.
A smattering of offense from either side kept this long day going but other than the Kapler homer and Joyce double, there were no more bright spots left in the day. Randy Choate recorded a single out in the sixth before Andy Sonnanstine came in to pitch the rest of the game.
Any loss is disappointing, but this one stings a bit more for several reasons. For starters, it looked like a great game based on the first-inning firepower. Any game where you put up a three-spot in the opening inning you need to come out with the W. Also, the Yankees gain a game on the Rays in the American League East. Fortunately the Texas Rangers beat the Bahstan Rehd Sahks 4-2, letting Tampa Bay keep their three-and-a-half game cushion in the wild card picture.
Is it ever really easy?
Latest in Daily Loaf
-
The Office ends on a high note
The Office ended after nine seasons with a touching finale.
-
Harvey Milk Festival set this weekend
May 18 festival in Sarasota celebrates Harvey Milk's legacy and showcases artists and musicians who reject discrimination.
-
Conservative group rallies in Florida to keep ban on "avowed" gay Boy Scouts
The vote on whether to ban gays in the Boy Scouts comes up next Thursday in Texas.
- More »
More by Kevin Tall
-
Nude Nite 2013
A night at the art event celebrating the beauty of the nude.
-
Evil Dead = dead on
The satisfying, modern remake of the horror cult classic is part homage, part re-imagining of the original Sam Raimi film.
- More »
