Brignac's blast sends Rays to victory over New York

It was the kind of moment Joe Maddon envisioned that mid-July night in 2007 at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees ran around the bases like something you'd see in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, scoring 17 runs to complete a sweep of a day-night double header.

The Tampa Bay Rays manager took it all in while leaning against the top rail of the visitor's dugout and looked not so much at the numbers on the scoreboard, but into his future.

He saw a night when Rays-Yankees would mean something, when the two teams stood shoulder to shoulder, payrolls be damned.

That night arrived Monday when they met at Tropicana Field on a mid-September night separated by a thin half-game in the standings.

In a game fitting of two teams vying for the championship of the toughest division in baseball, the first-place Yankees and second-place Rays traded zeros for 10 innings.

Then they traded places in the standings.

Reid Brignac, who replaced Carl Crawford after Crawford was ejected in the bottom of the ninth for arguing a called third strike, drove his team into first place with a leadoff home run in the bottom the 11th inning to give the Rays a 1-0 lead over the Yankees, losers of four-straight and seven of their last eight.

"Unbelievable," Brignac said. "You just feel like you're floating on clouds. I had a couple of walk-offs in the minor leagues but nothing like this."

"What a game," Maddon said. "What can you say? Both pitchers were great. Both bullpens were great. Carl set it up for Brignac, his good buddy. It's weird how things happen sometimes. When all that is coming down, you're just trying to figure out who's going where and when. Sometimes, you just play along and keep your focus and things work out well."

The Rays, who now have the best record in the major leagues, moved back into first place for the first time since Aug. 30, the last of a record eight-straight days they shared the division lead with the Yankees. The Rays have sole position the division lead for the first time since Aug. 3.

"It's big," Evan Longoria said. "I've said this in the past and I'll say it again: we're going to have to win the games at home. Those are maybe the most important ones. Once we do wrap this series up, we've got to find a way to battle on the road. Those games in New York (next week) will be playoff atmosphere. Here and there. It's a lot of fun to play in this setting."

It was the fifth time in Rays history they were involved in a game that was scoreless after nine innings and the first time they won such a game.

A crowd of 26,907 showed up Monday for the first game of this three-game series, and the first of seven games between these two rivals in a span of 10 days.

What they saw was a game that lived up to its billing while the main event pitching match-up of David Price and CC Sabathia lived up to its hype.

The two lefties, front-runners for the American League Cy Young Award, matched zeros for eight innings.

"It was kind of what everybody was expecting, and that's what they got," Price said. "So it was a good game."

Price, the 17-game-winner, allowed three hits and worked out of one jam. He retired 12 straight after allowing a leadoff single to Derek Jeter to start the game.

"He's thrown some really good games against us," Yankee manager Joe Girardi said. "He was as good (Monday night) as we've seen him."

Sabathia, the 19-game winner, allowed two and struck out nine. He also worked out of one jam.

"For those on the fence with their Cy Young vote, I'm sure they're still on the fence," Maddon said.

It was the second time in as many seasons that Sabathia was denied his 20th win at the Trop while opposed by Price.

"I think it speaks for itself," Longoria said of Price-Sabathia. "Both of them pretty much matched the bill, two Cy Young candidates, the two most prominent ones. They both brought their "A" stuff. We were just hoping we could be the first ones to break through."

When asked afterwards who took the lead in the Cy Young race, Price answered, "CC."

Sabathia retired the first eight batters he faced before he allowed a two-out single in the third to Kelly Shoppach and a walk to B.J. Upton. He then retired the next 12 until walking Ben Zobrist with two out in the seventh.

The closest the Rays came to scoring off Sabathia was in the eighth when Sean Rodriguez led off with a single under the glove of Robinson Cano at second base. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dioner Navarro. Sabathia then drilled Kelly Shoppach with his first pitch.

The Rays had runners at first and second with one-out, but Sabathia struck out Upton and got Jason Bartlett to bounce into a force out.

The Rays best scoring chance came in the 10th when they loaded the bases off former Ray pitcher Chad Gaudin on a walk to Navarro, a single to Dan Johnson and a walk to Upton.

But Gaudin got himself out of the jam by striking out pinch-hitter Brad Hawpe.

That set the stage for Brignac, who took Crawford's spot in the order and played second base while Rodriguez moved from second to left field.

Brignac now has seven home runs - three against the Yankees.

"He does have some power," Girardi said. "We've seen it from him against us."

NOTEWORTHY

It was the Rays sixth walk-off win of the season and first since Aug. 28 against the Red Sox ... It was the first 1-0 walk-off win in team history ... Both teams combined for eight hits. Brignac's homer was the first that wasn't a single ... The Rays optioned Mike Ekstrom to Durham so he can continue pitching ... The Rays recalled lefty Jake McGee after the game ... Only Tim Wakefield (193 career wins), Livan Hernandez (165) and Kevin Millwood (158) have more career wins than Sabathia (155) without having at least one 20-win season.