New York Yankees lose but CC Sabathia pitches a productive game

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida and the final score was 6-2.  CC Sabathia started and pitched well for the first time this spring.  Brian McCann led the offense with a couple of hits. 

Sabathia pitched five innings giving up six hits and two runs with a walk and four strikeouts.  Tyler Olson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and four runs with a walk, Kirby Yates pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings with a couple of strikeouts and Chasen Shreve pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts.  Branden Pinder pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Starlin Castro had a hit, Alex Rodriguez had a hit and drew a walk and McCann had two hits.  Ronald Torreyes had a hit, Carlos Beltran had a hit and an RBI and Pete Kozma had a hit.  Cesar Puello had a hit, McCann hit a double and Torreyes hit a double.  Kozma hit a triple and the Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. 

In the first Evan Longoria hit a solo homerun giving the Rays a 1-0 lead.  In the second Kevin Kiermaier hit an RBI single to make it 2-0.  Beltran hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to trim the lead to 2-1 Rays.  In the sixth Steve Pearce hit an RBI single extending the Rays lead to 3-1.  Rene Rivera grounded into a force out and a run scored making it a 4-1 game.  Logan Morrison hit a two run ssingle and it was 6-1 Rays still in the sixth inning.  In the seventh a wild pitch made it 6-2 and that would be the final score. 

The Yankees spring record fell to 9-11 and they will play the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota on Friday afternoon.