The Yankee lose a close one in Tampa

The Yankees were trying for the series win tonigth in Tampa but they came up just short losing 2-1.  CC Sabathia pitched well but James Shields was even better for the Rays.  Sabathia pitched a complete game giving up two runs on five hits.  He walked four and struck out eight.  Shields pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up one run on six hits.  He walked three and struck out six.  Sabathia saw his record fall to 14-5 on the season.  It was his 31st birthday and he couldn't get a win on it to celebrate. 

The offense was stuck in neutral once again, this was the second time since July 10th that they weren't able to hit Shields.  Sabathia got the best of him in their last meeting winning the game 1-0.  The only offense came in the eighth inning on a Robinson Cano RBI double.  Derek Jeter also had a double in the game tying him with Wade Boggs on the all-time hits list with 3010. 

The Yankees are now two games back of the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East.  They are 5 1/2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card.  The Rays will play the Yankees and Red Sox 19 more times this season.  There was a chance that they could of been buried this week by those two teams but they are hanging in there and with all those games have a chance to do some serious damage. 

The Yankees will begin a ten game homestand on Friday night.  They will take on the Oakland Athletics, they will also face the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles on the homestand.  There will be a doubleheader on July 30th.  Ivan Nova could be recalled to make the start in one of those games.  The Yankees need to win a majority of these games and try to make up ground or at least seperate themselves from the Rays and the rest of the pack.