Yanks Go Yard Recap: New York Yankees Pushed To The Brink With Latest Defeat

To quote  the late, great, Frank Sinatra: And now, the end is near. The Yankees loss to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 7-0, puts them five games out of a wild card birth with five games to go.

Sep 24, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees pitcher

reacts in the dugout in the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Hiroki Kuroda, in what could be his final start in pinstripes, continued to be ineffective in the second half of the season. Matt Joyce led off the game with his 18th homer of the season. Wil Myers followed with a double. David DeJesus followed with a double to make it 2-0 and went to third on the throw. Evan Longoria followed with a sac fly to make it 3-0.

The game stayed that way until the sixth. Myers led off with a walk. Two batters later, Longoria hit a ground-rule double. With second and third, Ben Zobrist was intentionally walked. James Loney made the Yankees pay with a two run double.

In the ninth, Shawn Kelley came in and walked Sam Fuld. Two batters later, Delmon Young drove in Fuld with a double. After a strikeout, Dejesus followed with another RBI double.

The Yankees had opportunities early and often but couldn’t capitalize. The Yankees had first and second in the first, but Mark Reynolds struck out to end the inning. With Brendan Ryan on second in the second, Chris Stewart struck out to end the inning. With two on in the third, Reynolds flew out and Eduardo Nunez grounded out to end the inning. With the bases loaded and two out in the fourth, Alex Rodriguez flew out to end the inning. 

YGY Player Of The Game: DeJesus

Game two of the series is tomorrow at 7:05. David Price will oppose Phil Hughes.

Notes: It was Mariano Rivera bobblehead night tonight, except the bobbleheads didn’t make it to the game on time. Fans were given a voucher for them and were given them beginning in the third inning.