Series Recap: Yankees Hang On To Win Tampa Road Series

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Game One

The Yankees bats were once again ghosts, as a wasted effort by Brandon McCarthy, and a masterful effort by the Rays’ Alex Cobb, helped propel Tampa to the .500 mark for the first time since June 10th. At one point, the Rays were 18 games under the .500 mark, by Cobb’s 7 1/3 scoreless innings, paired with James Loney once again putting on a show against the Yankees–hitting a home run and driving in a pair, was enough as the Rays easily won Friday night’s series opener by the score of 5-0.

The Rays scored those runs on a combination of timely hitting and poor Yankees’ defense. They tallied only 8 hits on the evening compared to the Yankees’ 7, but the Rays were able to push runs across the dish at key times. The Yankees’ Brett Gardner, after the game stated what all of New York and the baseball world has been thinking recently:

"“We’re running out of time…Every day that goes by and we don’t win, it makes us one step closer to being home at the end of September. That’s obviously not what we want to do.”"

(h/t, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com)

The loss in the series opener, was the Bombers’ fifth straight, and it appeared this team was completely checked out. There was no sense of urgency, no fire, no nothing. Just another 9-inning contest of the Yankees going through the motions. Two defensive miscues was all Tampa needed, and the Yankees were out of luck. Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira each logged a pair of hits, but it wasn’t nearly enough against Cobb.