ST. PETERSBURG – Phil Hughes was one out away from giving the Yankees bullpen a chance to get the final six outs of the night to win not only the game, but the series.
Carl Crawford flew out softly and Evan Longoria struck out looking when Hughes froze him with a two-strike breaking ball for the first two outs of the inning.
Winning the game would send notice that despite all of their current ills facing them. From their problems with the starting pitching to their inability at the moment to field a full, healthy team that they still had enough muscle memory and mental toughness.
All he had to get was one more out.
His pitch count neared 100, but there was no evidence he was tiring at all. Hughes retired the first 12 batters in order and his only mistake of the game came in the fifth inning when Dan Johnson turned around a fastball for a two-run homer to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
Thanks to help of great acting by Derek Jeter, he was able to get on base by claiming a pitch hit him. Curtis Granderson then stuck with a two-run homerun on cue to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
Now Hughes had a chance to close the game.
Matt Joyce hit a single to center and it looked so innocent. Manager Joe Girardi was so confident (or just trying to protect his bullpen) that no one was warming up in the bullpen.
This was Hughes’ game to lose.
And then he lost it.
Johnson, the man who took Hughes deep in the fifth inning would strike again with another two-run blast to give the Rays their eventual 4-3 winning margin to take the series and reclaim first place in the AL East.
It was a shocking turn of events. The Yankees thought they were going to steal one away from Tampa in classic fashion only to find themselves trailing in an instant.
For a team noted for their resilience, gut and grit, this was a crushing blow.
The Yankee had one final chance in the ninth inning. Closer Rafael Soriano issued a two-out walk to Mark Teixeira only throw three straight fastball past Alex Rodriguez to end the game.
That strikeout ended a tense, three game series between baseball top two teams. Say what you want about the surging Minnesota Twins, who are one game behind the Rays for the league’s best record, but this was a matchup of two heavyweights that went all 12 rounds for three straight days.
The battle will continue again next Monday night for the final four times in the regular season, but anyone watching could see that at least four more games and as many as seven appear in both of these teams future in October.
Once again, the Yankees had their chances to make sure that game was not in range for the Rays to come back, but their continuing failures with runners in scoring position continued to haunt them, stretching now to a woeful 20-for-100.
Late in the game, the Rays went to their two most valuable relievers and they held the lead, showing the Yankees that too have firepower and will not wilt when the game is in the line.
Since June, both of these teams have been inseparable. In September, no more than three games separated these two teams.
Only in the last ten games where the Yankees have gone 2-8 have the Rays found an opening to chase them down and overtake them as the last three days have seen the two team’s leap-frogging the other into first place.
I said two months ago after their three game series here that the Rays were not going to go away.
Two months later, they are still here and are on equal footing as the Yankees.
As evidenced by the three games all decided by a run, neither team has a decided advantage over the other.
From the 1-0 duel in 11 innings on Monday won by Reid Brignac’s walk-off homerun, to the Yankees 8-7 win in 10 innings Tuesday on Jorge Posada’s pinch-hit blast, to last night, it was three days of great baseball theater.
What we learned is the Rays are here to stay, perhaps all the way through October.
The Yankees definitely received the message.
A few Yankees-Rays random thoughts
The pitcher’s duel on Monday night between CC Sabathia and David Price was perhaps the best game played all season.
From the first pitch, both aces threw their best games and neither offense could muster many scoring opportunities.
The Yankees only got the leadoff man on twice in the game, back in the first and the eighth innings, but never put two men on at any point during the game.
From Derek Jeter’s leadoff single up until another single by Robinson Cano in the seventh, the Yankees went the remaining innings hitless against Price, who blew his fastball past hitters consistently.
Sabathia was just as good, allowing only one hit through his first seven innings. Tampa Bay had their best chance in the eighth inning when two men reached with only one out. However, Sabathia, in true ace form, would strike out BJ Upton on a slider and got Jason Bartlett to ground to short to end the inning.
Both bullpens kept the scoreless deadlocked in the ninth and tenth before the Rays finally broke through in the 11th on the walk off by Brignac.
You will not find a better game.
The next night brought just as much drama, but with a better outcome for the Yankees.
Jumping on top 6-0 in the fifth, the game was to be a cakewalk. Ivan Nova was in complete control and then suddenly lost it. Next thing you know, Willy Aybar stroked a three-run blast off Boone Logan to give the Rays a 7-6 lead.
Incredible.
The Yankees would tie the game in the seventh, and in extra innings, Jorge Posada came up as a pinch-hitter and hit a mammoth homerun to give them the lead.
Mariano Rivera came on to close the game, and after Carl Crawford singled and moved to second. A fly ball to right field was caught by right fielder Greg Golson, who fired a strike to third base to nail down Crawford attempting to advance.
You could see the entire team in joy after seeing Golson’s incredible throw that they mobbed him in celebration.
It was an extremely touching moment.
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