First Figures

The two pitchers remaining on the Yankees roster from last decade’s championship teams experienced unwelcome figures for the first time in their storied careers. The legendary New York closer, Mariano Rivera, surrendered back-to-back homeruns for the first time in 862 games. Starter, Andy Pettitte, served up four bombs for the first time ever. Pettitte has never allowed that many blasts in his 441 outings as a major leaguer. The Rays hit a record tying six homeruns to seal an 8-6 Thursday thumping of the Bombers at Yankee Stadium.
Evan Longoria took Rivera deep in the top of the ninth after Carl Crawford’s shot out of the park doomed the Bombers the batter before. Rivera was responsible for Crawford’s connection as the Yankees suffered their fifth consecutive loss. Mariano has already allowed four homers this year, matching his total for each of the last two seasons. In April, Mo was drilled by Detroit’s Curtis Granderson and Boston’s Jason Bay. It’s been 11 years since Rivera has even been taken deep twice in a game. Joe Girardi claims Rivera is still not fully recovered from shoulder surgery, but the closer is making no excuses. His warped arm is the most important body part this side of Alex Rodriguez’s hip in determining the Bombers’ 2009 success. Typical Rivera insouciance is still present but the formerly unbreakable closer is not as imposing as before.
Jason Bartlett, Ben Zobrist, and Carlos Pena also decked dingers for Tampa. Pena’s pulverizing plant was his 13th of the year. He leads the AL in homeruns. Another first: The Rays won their third straight game for the first time this year. Johnny Damon’s game-tying 8th inning homerun off reliever Dan Wheeler got the Yankees back in a game where Pettitte did not pitch well. Andy lasted six innings against a team he holds a 15-4 career mark. He struck out five batters on 115 pitches. Bartlett led off the game with a homerun off Andy and Pena fancily followed two batters later with similar results. Longoria belted his first tater of the game off Pettitte for two runs in the third. The Rays were on top 4-0 after three innings. Tampa starting pitcher, Jeff Niemann, was not sharp on the hill either. He lasted 3 ½ innings and manager, Joe Maddon had him on a short lease. He gave up two runs on three hits and walked four Yankees. In the bottom of the third, Maddon made it clear he was ready for a bullpen siege when Lance Cormier began warming up. A hit batter and wild pitch were enough for the Rays’ skipper to bring Cormier into the game in the fourth inning. Jose Molina and Damon doubled in that inning to start the Yankees comeback rally. Hideki Matsui lead off the fifth and worked the count full before lining a solo shot to tie the game at 4 and negate Tampa’s previous efforts.
The Rays regained the lead in the sixth on Zobrist’s two out shot to left. Longoria scored in the seventh on outfielder, Pat Burrell‘s RBI single off Jose Veras. Damon’s clutch two-run homer off Wheeler tied the game again in the bottom of the eighth for New York. Wheeler hadn’t allowed a hit in his previous five outings or a run in his last six until Thursday night.
Rivera was summoned to pitch the eighth and quickly put Crawford in an 0-2 hole. Rivera lashed out nine pitches to the sassy speedster during the at-bat. Crawford fouled off Mo’s moving pitches to work a full count. Carl clocked his first homerun, a solo shot, on the ninth pitch for the go-ahead Tampa run. Longoria extended his major league best RBI total to 38 with his second slam of the night as the very next batter facing Rivera. The second year third baseman has already swated 10 homers in 2009. Yankee reliever, Dave Robertson, replaced Rivera to get the final out.
The Bombers were retired in the ninth and retreated to their dugout sluicing away any attempt at a comeback win. Matsui and Robinson Cano grounded out, and Nick Swisher went down swinging at strikes. Ben Shouse got the win in relief for the Rays, and Joe Nelson slated his first save with the final out of the game.
The Rays showed strength in winning tie ball games and coming from behind this series. Their response when down tells all you need to know about the mental fortitude of the team. They play amped-up intense baseball and believe in themselves. Tampa feeds off each other and their manager keeps them focused. They are only 14-16 but have won six of their last eight games. Tampa will see a drastic turnaround in the win-loss column if they continue to do what they did last year. They are a team on a mission headed into Fenway Park this weekend. The Rays don’t fit the mold of a gritty team . That title goes to the Red Sox. But Tampa, not New York, is now the real contender in the AL East for Boston. The fiery Rays are a tough team.
Meanwhile, the Bronx Bombers are looking flimsier by the day. The team is already without Jorge Posada at backstop and now will send Jose Molina to the DL from a quad injury that occurred in the fourth inning last night. Rodriguez returns tonight for the timely series against Baltimore. Arod’s bat should help struggling slugger, Mark Teixeira. The $180 million first baseman is hitting under .200 and left five runners on base last night. He went 0-5 in the loss and has not been hitting the ball with any authority whatsoever. Teixeira is hacking away and taking scantily silly swings. Baseball minds are quick to point out Mark has historically slow Aprils. The reasoning is not sound. It’s now May and Teixeria is expected to be a full power source.
The Yankees lack a killer mentality despite their injuries and missing components. Hitters are not pounding out base hits but instead counting on hooking homeruns. Damon plated four RBIs last night but the rest of the lineup didn’t drive in runners with base hits. The Yankees are 4 for 32 with runners in scoring position over their last four games. Melky Cabrera is playing well and may be another exception. He stole a base, walked twice and is batting .333 this year.
The starting pitching has been just good enough to keep the team afloat. The brutal bullpen has been a depressing disaster though, and even Rivera cannot be completed trusted to hold leads. Rivera’s velocity is down, only topping the low 90’s. New York is 6-7 in their home park and are bordering on mediocre (13-15 overall) at one game under .500 a month into the season. The good vibes are gone and forgotten quickly in New York. It is not panic time quite yet, but things have to change soon. The Yankees cannot dig themselves a hole because I do not candidly think this is a team capable of ascending from a deep ditch.

Parting points: First for L.A.- A Dodgers home loss in 2009
Happy Birthday to Bill Cowher.