Rays raze Yanks’ division lead

The Yanks fell 1-0 to the Rays in 11 innings and dropped a half game behind them for the division lead, but what a pitcher’s duel. That was a heck of a game.

CC and Price combined to throw 16 innings of five-hit, 13-strikeout, four-walk, shutout ball. CC, who is still searching for his 20th win, moved into 90th place on the all-time strikeout list with his 1,767th punchout. He passed John Burkett and now trails Ron Guidry (1,778).

I’m not one for second guessing (editor’s note: that’s a bald faced lie) but what the hell was with Girardi’s bullpen management on Monday? He said that D-Rob and Joba were not available, and that he was saving Mo for a save situation. D-Rob I can see because he had a long outing on Saturday, but Joba has thrown four innings in September and hasn’t pitched since Friday. Does he really need more rest? Plus, why would you not use The Greatest Ever if you can pitch Him? This further fuels my hatred of the almighty save.

What’s more baffling is that if you know there’s a limited amount of arms in the ‘pen why would you use Kerry Wood (who is awesome BTW) for only 11 pitches and pull Boone Logan after one batter? It just doesn’t add up.

In other gaffes from this setback, Gardner pinch-ran for Lance Berkman in the 10th inning and stole second before getting caught stealing third base. He apparently apologized to his teammates for what he called an “unnecessary steal.” It was indeed unnecessary because it might have just cost the team the game, I mean he was already in scoring position. WTF?

Fun Facts:

• Jeter went 1-for-5 and is now 99 hits away from 3,000 for his career.
• Posada, who played in his 1,700th game, failed in a bid to nab his career-high fourth base of the season (3-for-4 on the year).
• Austin Kearns began his Yankee career by going 14-for-41 (.341) but is now four for his last 36 (.111).
• The Yanks and Rays haven’t been separated in the standings by more than 2 1/2 games in over seven weeks.
• It was the eighth time the Yankees have been shutout this season (second 1-0 loss) which matches the total from 2008 (and 2007).
• The Yanks have not won a ballgame that went beyond the 10th inning since Game 2 of the 2009 ALCS.
• The loss was the team’s fourth in a row, which sets a season-high. They were the last team to not have lost four straight.

Postgame Quote:

Girardi:

"No I didn’t (have Joba and D-Rob available). I used people who were available. They’ve been used a lot latelty, so we thought it was something we had to stay away from."

Regardless of the outcome, that was a great game. The Yanks, who have lost seven of eight, will get back at it tomorrow night with SuperNova going against Matt Garza.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!!!!!!!!!