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Yankees Look To Prove They Aren't Dead Yet

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - This is supposed to be the series in which the Rays pound the nails into the Yankees' coffin – at least as far as the American League East title goes.

Well, not yet.

With a 7-2 victory over the first-place Rays on Tuesday night, the Yankees showed that the franchise with the best winning percentage in September since 1996 (.642) can't be counted out yet.

It's true the Yankees have been giving the Rays fits all year. They've won eight of 13 against them, including two games at Yankee Stadium before the All-Star break that helped launch Tampa Bay to a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Then again, the Rays entered the three-game series with a major league-best mark of 52-19 at home. And they had gone 23-7 during August.

The Yankees, with their $209 million payroll, were a flat 13-15 in August, their first losing August since 1996.

Now the Yankees 11 games behind the Rays and seven games back for the AL wildcard berth.

"It's definitely going to be tough to catch the Rays," center fielder Johnny Damon said in a somewhat subdued New York clubhouse. "But we're going to go out there and keep playing and see what happens.

"It was good to come down here and win. The last time we were here [May 12-15], they took it to us."

The Yankees got one of those Rays-like victories in which the breaks and so many big plays went their way.

Such as the Rays' base-running debacle in the second. Willy Aybar led off with a single and Eric Hinske followed with what he tried to turn into a triple. The only problem was, third base coach Tom Foley held Aybar at third, and the Rays wound up with two players on the third-base bag.

Aybar took off for home because there was nothing else to do and was easily thrown out.

"You've got to get a couple of breaks sometimes," said Yankees veteran righty Mike Mussina, who pitched six strong innings to improve to 17-7.

"Our guys put together good at-bats. We got some breaks when were on offense, too. Their pitcher [Matt Garza] throwing the ball away. A few other things you don't see too often. It doesn't happen every day, but today we got the breaks."

Aside from a SportCenter-esque over the shoulder catch at the wall by Rays center fielder B.J. Upton in the second frame, the important plays went the Yankees' way.

In the third, for instance, Derek Jeter beat out a bouncer to third baseman Aybar that probably should have been an out. Jeter stole second when shortstop Jason Bartlett couldn't handle catcher Shawn Riggans' throw.

Two batters later, Jeter scored on an Alex Rodriguez sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1.

Rodriguez and Xavier Nady – a former Pittsburgh Pirate mentioned as a possibility for the Rays before the trade deadline – each hit monster home runs.

Nady's shot hit the left-field catwalk 115 feet above the field in left and measured 410 feet. Rodriguez' blast to left-center measured 424 feet.

"I hadn't seen a lot of him, but I knew he has power," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Nady, who has nine home runs and 27 RBIs since joining New York on July 26. "Obviously, he's been an important element. He makes our lineup deep. He's hit in big situations for us."

Mussina passed Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for sole possession of 34th place with his 267th career win. He improved to 7-1 on the road this year and has not lost on the road since April 12 at Boston.

He tied a season high with eight strikes, thanks in part, he admitted, to Brian Runge's generous strike zone.

"I got some strike calls," he said. "I think Jose [catcher Molina] was presenting the ball real well, and if you make the ball look good, sometimes you get some calls.

"That's the way the game was being called, so that's the way we tried to keep working. I probably got away with some stuff and got some breaks, but that's the way the game is played sometimes."

It was one game, one impressive victory. The third-place Yankees still trail the upstart Rays, with their $44 million payroll, by 11 games.

"It is what it is," Mussina said. "We cant look back and wish things. We can't change where we are. The situation is we have 24 games left, or whatever it is, and we can only worry about the field we're playing on and the game we're playing.

"If we can keep winning, we'll put some pressure on them, hopefully, and you never know what's going to happen. You play it out and see where it ends up on the last day of the season."

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