The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 9-7. Starting for the Yankees was C.C. Sabathia and he got the no decision. Mariano Rivera got the loss. Wow, what to say about this loss. The Rays have Mariano’s number but first let’s talk about C.C… In the early going, he was throwing a lot of first pitch 4-Seam Fastballs and was effective because he was able to throw his slider for outs when he got the batters to two strikes. He had great velocity on his fastball that was reaching 95 mph and reached 97 late in the game. He was varying the break on his slider and it had good side to side and downward movement. It was a sweeping slider and it was a good finish pitch. Then the fifth and sixth inning happened. In the fifth inning, he just gave up a home run to a really hot batter in Ben Zobrist and then an error led to another run. It’s the sixth inning I’m sure Sabathia wish he could have back. He gave up a lead off walk and then gave up a little dunk base hit. Then he left a first pitch change up, down and out over the plate to Willie Aybar. That was the one big mistake he made. Aybar was probably waiting for a fastball but got a change up instead, it sped up his bat and he ran into a home run and crushed it. That was the big difference in the game. Sabathia overall pitched well. The only innings he struggled were in the fifth and sixth otherwise he pitched lights out. We all know that Mariano Rivera doesn’t pitch well when it’s a non game situation so there’s really nothing to say about it except, I wish he did. These games don’t shock me anymore because Mariano is getting older and the Rays own him. It wasn’t a good combination. Here’s something to keep in mind. When Posada took over for Cervelli to catch in the ninth inning, Rivera gave up three runs. Would Rivera have given up three runs if Cervelli was catching? It’s something to ponder. The Yankee offense looked like they were going to come back again like they’ve done all year but the four run deficit was just too much to overcome. Mark Teixeira is continuing his tear from May and Alex is hitting like Alex. I just wish Matsui wouldn’t always swing for a home run when all he has to do is get a basehit to break open a tie game. Player of the Game: Second baseman Ben Zobrist. His triple in the ninth inning basically set the tone for the Rays’ win.
