From Bad to Worse

When Nick Swisher is called upon to pitch, you know your team is in trouble. That's how poorly things went for the Yankees tonight in St. Petersburg.

You thought Chien-Ming Wang's start against Baltimore was bad? His showing against Tampa Bay this evening was even worse. Wang didn't retire a batter in the second inning and the Rays humiliated the Yankees 15-5.

Swisher provided the comic relief in the eighth inning, but he was the only Yankees pitcher to escape unscathed. Wang was awful right from the start. He walked B.J. Upton, who was playing his first game of the season, to start the first and then hit Carl Crawford.

Wang struck out Evan Longoria, but the Rays pulled off a double steal, with Upton swiping his second base of the inning. Carlos Pena doubled home both runners and scored on a Pat Burrell double for a 3-0 Rays lead. Back to back singles by Dioner Navarro and Gabe Gross produced another run, with Gross helping Wang out by getting thrown out trying to advance to second on the play. Wang then retired Aki Iwamura to get out of the first inning down 4-0.

Things didn't get any better in the second for Wang. Jason Bartlett singled and promptly stole second. Upton's bunt single and a walk to Crawford loaded the bases and Wang followed with another walk to Longoria to force in a run. Joe Girardi called on Jonathan Albaladejo, but before the Yankees manager knew what him, or Albaladejo in this case, Pena blasted a grand slam into the right field seats for a back breaking 9-0 Rays lead.

After that it was all about getting the game over with. The Yankees scored three runs off of Scott Kazmir in 6.2 innings, with Swisher hitting his third home run of the season. Edwar Ramirez and Phil Coke gave up four more runs before Girardi, in desperation, turned things over to Swisher to save the bullpen.

After giving up a walk and a single to start the eighth, Swisher struck out Gabe Kapler, retired Pena on a pop up to Robinson Cano, and ended the inning by getting Burrell to fly out to left field. It was the only time the Yankees got to smile all night.


Game Notes

Incredibly, Wang's ERA stands at 23.98 after two starts (4.2 IP 17 ER).

With a tired bullpen, it would not be surprising to see the Yankees call a pitcher up from Scranton in time for Tuesday's game.

Upton made a terrific return to the lineup after missing the first six games due to off-season shoulder surgery. He was 1-3 with three walks, two runs scored, two stolen bases and made a spectacular, back to the infield, running catch in center field on a ball hit by Xavier Nady.

Swisher was the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Wade Boggs did it on August 18, 1997. The future Hall of Fame inductee tossed a scoreless inning against the Anaheim Angels in a 12-4 Yankees loss.

	Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		R		H		E
	NY Yankees	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	5	9	1
	Tampa Bay	4	5	1	0	1	1	3	0	X	15	17	0
WP: S. Kazmir (2-0) LP: C. Wang (0-2)