Sweepless on the way to Seattle
Rays hold on to defeat Yanks
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Joe Girardi, in what may have been his best quote of the season, explained the other day why he wasn’t planning to replace struggling Sidney Ponson in the rotation.
“It’s not like we have Cy Young and Steve Carlton waiting in the wings,” the New York Yankees manager said.
No, what they have is a problem. Along with Ponson, the Yankees are counting on Darrell Rasner and have been for most of the season. Rasner is a great guy, but after his 20th start on Thursday night it seems obvious he’s not Mr. Young or Mr. Carlton, either.
Rasner lasted 1x innings and was strafed for five runs as the desperate Yankees lost to the Rays at Tropicana Field, 7-5. With 22 games left, the Yankees are 7z games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race and 11 back of Tampa in the AL East as they depart for a three-game series in Seattle that begins tonight.
“It’s good to keep them in our rear view mirror because they’ve played well against us,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “To lose three in a row here would not have been any fun at all.”
The Yankees had won three in a row to start this four-city, 10- game road trip. They survived a terrible outing from Ponson on Monday in Detroit and a subpar start from Carl Pavano on Wednesday. They couldn’t overcome Rasner’s effort.
The Yankees trailed, 5-0, after two innings and 7-0 after eight. Only a five-run ninth, highlighted by Derek Jeter’s three-run home run and Alex Rodriguez’s massive solo shot to left field, made the score close. It was A-Rod’s 32nd home run of the season and 550th of his career. No replay was required.
“We can’t look [at not gaining ground on the Red Sox]. . . . How many games do we have left? 22. We have to go out and do what we do,” Rodriguez said.
“We’re not looking at series. We’re looking at games as must-win games, and that’s the situation tomorrow. It’s almost like college. Double-elimination and you go home. That has to be the approach. Urgent.”
Rasner (5-10, 5.43 ERA) faced 12 batters. Eight of them reached base. The Rays scored five times in the second on six hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
It was 3-0 when Girardi pulled Rasner for Alfredo Aceves, who allowed a two-run single to Willy Aybar to finish Rasner’s dismal line.
The Yankees, who scored 26 runs in the previous three games, didn’t get their first hit against Scott Kazmir (11-6, 2.99) until Cody Ransom blooped a double in front of sliding right fielder Gabe Gross leading off the fifth. Ransom, who went 3 for 3 with a walk, is batting .750 (6 for 8 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs). So at least the Yankees have that going for them.
It didn’t help that the Yankees were without Bobby Abreu, sitting with a jammed left wrist. They plan to recall outfielder Melky Cabrera today.
