It took 11 innings to decide this one, and the Tampa Bay Rays came out on top, 2-1. Chien-Ming Wang pitched another great game for the club. It is the bats that need a kick start. Again today, the offense was silenced by the pitching staff of the Rays. And wouldn’t you know it, Mariano Rivera took the lose, and saw his ERA sky-rocket to 0.56!
Wang gave up only one run in the 4th inning, to Hinske’s bat, but other than that he was again spectacular. There was some defensive help that came his way as well, as Matsui made a great grab in left. But overall, it was what you have come to expect out of Wang, just no run support.
Matsui did it again in the 9th inning, being the hero to tie the game at one and send this one into extra innings. It wasn’t until the 11th inning when the Rays finally broke the tie, winning it 2-1.
This win boosted the Tampa Bay Rays into 1st place in the division, 0.5 games ahead of the enemy Boston Red Sox. It also dipped the Yankees to 19-21, 4.5 games out of the lead in the division.
We have two more games to be played before this series come to a close, so let’s see if the Yankees can turn things around, and play for a split.
