The New York Yankees fall to 0-2 with an 8-6 loss to Tampa Bay

The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 tonight in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hiroki Kuroda started and didn’t pitch very well. Clay Rapada making his Yankees debut didn’t pitch well either out of the pen. Cory Wade did pitch well. David Price started for the Rays and pitched pretty well, he also benefited from some gopher balls from the Yankees. 
Kuroda pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and six runs with four of them being earned. He walked four and struck out two. Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with two walks. Wade pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up no hits and no runs and he struck out three batters. Price pitched 6 1/3 innings getting the win. He gave up five hits and two runs with four walks and five strikeouts. Kuroda took the loss in the game. The Rays used five pitchers out of their bullpen, the pen struggled a little bit with a big lead and let the Yankees get back in the game.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Nick Swisher had a hit, three RBI and drew two walks and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had two hits and Andruw Jones had a hit and an RBI. Raul Ibanez had a pinch hit RBI, Russell Martin drew three walks and Eduardo Nunez had a hit and an RBI. Eric Chavez had a pinch hit single. Cano had a double, Granderson had a triple and Swisher hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Nunez made an error.

Desmond Jennings had a hit and an RBI for the Rays. Carlos Pena had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks, Evan Longoria had a hit and Matt Joyce had two hits and three RBI and drew a walk. Ben Zobrist had a hit and drew two walks, Luke Scott had three hits and three RBI and Jose Lobaton had a hit. Reid Brignac drew a walk. Lobaton, Zobrist, Scott and Longoria each had a double. Joyce had a homerun. The Rays were 5-14 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Jennings had a stolen base and Brignac was picked off. Lobaton made an error.

In the first inning the Rays took a 2-0 lead. Nunez made an error and Jennings stole second. There was a runner on third with two outs, Joyce and Zobrist both walked to load the bases and Scott singled home two runs. In the second Lobaton doubled and Pena hit an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game. In the third inning the Rays extended the lead to 4-0 on a Joyce solo homerun. In the fourth inning the Yankees got on the board. Granderson singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Jones RBI single. Jones went to third on a throwing error by the catcher, Martin walked and Nunez hit an RBI single. It was 4-2 Rays and Jeter hit a hard shot up the middle that hit off Price glove and he got the last out. In the sixth Zobrist and Scott doubled to make it a 5-2 game. After a couple of outs, Brignac walked and Jennings hit an RBI single to make it a 6-2 game. In the seventh Pena walked and Longoria hit a double. It was ruled a homerun but then overturned after a replay review. The fan reached over and it was ruled fan interference. Joyce singled home the two runs and made it 8-2 Rays. The Yankees rallied in the ninth but came up just short. They had second and third no outs in the eighth but weren’t able to score. In the ninth Granderson tripled and Ibanez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3. Martin walked, Chavez singled and Swisher hit a three run homerun to make it 8-6. Cano walked and Rodriguez grounded out to end the game. The Rodriguez out was right up the middle and as they have all series the Rays were positioned perfectly.

The Rays have won the series and will look to sweep the three games tomorrow afternoon. The Yankees will look to salvage a game before heading to Baltimore for three games beginning Monday night. Phil Hughes will be on the mound against Jeremy Hellickson.