New York Yankees lose first game of homestand to the Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 6-4 on Friday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch too well. The Yankees offense was basically Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. David Price started for the Rays and was good. The Rays offense was led by Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist. 
Sabathia lost his sixth game of the season pitching 6 2/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and struck out one and Joba Chamberlain gave up an unearned run and a hit in one inning. He struck out two batters. Price won his 18^th game of the season pitching seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Joel Peralta pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and Fernando Rodney pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings giving up a walk and striking out two.

Jeter had two hits, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Rodriguez had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Robinson Cano drew a walk, Russell Martin had a hit and Raul Ibanez drew a walk. Curtis Granderson had a hit and an RBI, Steve Pearce had a hit and an RBI and Eduardo Nunez had a hit. Granderson and Rodriguez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Nunez committed an error and Martin had a passed ball.

Jennings had two hits and an RBI, Zobrist had two hits and an RBI and B.J. Upton had a hit and an RBI. Chris Gimenez had two hits, Carlos Pena had a hit and drew a walk and Elliott Johnson had a hit and an RBI. Gimenez hit two doubles and Upton hit a homerun. The Rays were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Johnson, Jennings and Thompson each had a stolen base.

In the second Pearce had an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Johnson hit an RBI single to tie the game at one. Jennings hit an RBI single to make it 2-1 Rays. Longoria hit into a double play and a run scored to give the Rays a 3-1 lead. The Yankees cut the lead to 3-2 on a Granderson solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning. Zobrist hit an RBI single in the seventh to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. Upton hit a solo homerun in the eighth to make it 5-2 Rays. Rodriguez hit a two run homerun in the eighth to make it a 5-4 game. The Rays scored another run in the ninth on an error by Nunez. The final score was 6-4 as Rodney shut the door in the ninth inning easily.

The Yankees for the moment are ½ a game behind Baltimore for first place in the AL East. The Orioles are playing a late West Coast game. If the Orioles win the Yankees will wake up in second place on Saturday morning for the first time in a long time. The Yankees record fell to 81-63 and the Rays record improved to 78-66. The Rays are now three games behind the Yankees and the two teams will play game two of three on Saturday afternoon.