Yankees Lose Pettitte, Win Rubber Match vs. Tampa, 9-5

Written by Ray Monell

Sunday, 18 July 2010

Jorge Posada hit a 2-out, 2-run double to complete New York's 4-run 5th. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

YANKEE STADIUM -- The Yankees (58-33) had every excuse to lose their matinee rubber match against the Tampa Bay Rays (55-36) today.

Yet, somehow they were able to withstand an early 3-0 deficit - courtesy of first baseman Carlos Pena's first-inning, 3-run homer (20) - and, for the second time in as many days, the loss of a starter to an injury, to take the best-of-three weekend series from Tampa with a 9-5 win highlighted by six 2-out RBIs and an intrepid performance by reliever David Robertson (1.2 IP, 1H, 0R 1SO).

Robertson came in to pitch for starter Andy Pettitte (2.1 IP, 6H, 3R, 1HR), who left in the third inning after experiencing a discomfort in his left leg that was later diagnosed as a strained left groin. The 25-year-old reliever inherited Pettitte's first and second, 1-out jam and actually made it worse by walking Kelly Shoppach to load the bases.

Andy Pettitte left the game in the 3rd after feeling stiffness in his left leg. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

But before Tampa could extend their lead over New York, which by then was at 3-2 due to Robinson Cano's 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom of the first, Robertson got Sean Rodriguez to pop out to short and B.J. Upton to fly out to right.

"I've been coming into situations like that since college," said Robertson, who pitched his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in New York's 4-3, extra-inning win over the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of the 2009 ALDS. "The bullpen has had some bad times and good times; the way we battled today gave us a chance to win."

Robertson kept his team in it, and boy was that big for the Yanks.

Yesterday it was A.J. Burnett (self-inflicted laceration on his right hand) exiting his start because of an injury. Today, Pettitte's strained groin, like yesterday, forced New York manager Joe Girardi to exhaust his bullpen. This time around, the bullpen (Chan Ho Park, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera), following Robertson's departure after the fourth, combined to submit a serviceable performance, keeping Tampa to 2 runs on 5 hits (1 HR) for the remaining 5 innings.

"You couldn't pick a worse day for me to go down after what happened yesterday," said Andy Pettitte, who is likely headed to the DL this week, but not before trainers examine him over the next few days, according to Joe Girardi. "It was a great job by the bullpen, especially after we were short yesterday."

Rays starter David Price (L, 12-5) was far less effective, giving up 7 runs (all earned) on 7 hits in 5 innings.

In the third inning, Mark Teixeira tied the game, 3-3, with an RBI single into the right field corner, and in the fifth, the Yankees put together a 4-run rally that put them ahead for good.

They took the lead for the first time in the game when Jeter's RBI single up the middle plated Brett Gardner from second. Jeter advanced to second on Price's wild pitch moments later, moved to third on Nick Swisher's sac fly to right-center, and came in to score on Alex Rodriguez's 2-out RBI single to center that made it 5-3.

Later that inning, catcher Jorge Posada blasted a 2-run double to left-center that increased New York's lead to 7-3.

Swisher's 2-out RBI single through the right side in the sixth made it 8-3; his run-scoring single gave New York a total of six 2-out RBIs.

Each team scored a run in the seventh - Tampa on Gabe Kapler's solo home run (2) to left, and, in the bottom of the inning, Alex Rodriguez crushed a solo homer (15) off the facade of the left field bleachers in the visitors' bullpen to wrap up the Yanks' robust offensive output in a game they really needed it.

With his homerun in the 7th inning, Alex Rodriguez is now two away from carreer HR #600. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

"It's all about coming out of the weekend winning 2 of 3 games," said Alex Rodriguez, who is only 2 homers shy of the 600 mark. "It's huge, because it is important for us to protect our home field."

With today's victory, New York is currently ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East standings by 3 games, and 6.5 in front of the Boston Red Sox (as of 9:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 18).

The pitcher of record for the Yankees was Chan Ho Park (5.90 ERA), who improved to 2-1 with the win.

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