Rays ReJoyce

Phil Hughes was cruising along, mixing a mid-90s fastball with a great curve. Then the 6th inning came along and all of that hard work changed in the blink of the eye. Matt Joyce belted a Hughes cutter into the right field seats with two aboard and the Tampa Rays went on to a 3-2 victory. The win moved the Rays to within one game of the Yankees in the AL East.

Hughes had allowed just two hits through the first five innings before John Jaso started the 6th off with a single. A one out walk to Evan Longoria brought the go ahead run to the plate in the person of Yankee killer Carlos Pena. The Rays 1st baseman bounced into a force out, but Joyce connected on a 2-2 pitch well out of the reach of a climbing Nick Swisher in right.

Rafael Soriano recorded his 29th save when he retired the Yankees in order in the 9th. It included getting Alex Rodriguez, who went 0-4, to pop up for the first out of the frame.

The Yankees took the lead off Wade Davis in the 1st when Derek Jeter led off the game with a single and Swisher followed with his 19th home run of the year. But that was all the offense the Yankees could put up on the board as they had just two more hits the rest of the evening.

It was only the 4th home run of the year for Joyce, but his second big one within a week. His home run broke up the duel no-hitter between Detroit's Max Scherzer and Tampa's Matt Garza on Monday. Garza would go on to complete the no-no.

Joba Chamberlain made a good appearance, retiring all six men he faced. Half of them were by strikeout.

Yankees Get Last Laugh on Rays

Yankees Pound Rays in Post-Season Prep

Written for Baseball Digest Online

The Yankees still don’t know who they will be playing in the American League Division Series, but they got their focus back on Sunday and pummeled the Tampa Bay Rays 10-2. To be more precise, Alex Rodriguez pummeled the Rays on Sunday.

A-Rod came into the game two home runs and seven RBI shy of a 30/100 season. All he needed was one inning to accomplish the feat for the 12th straight year. Trailing 2-0, the Yankees put two aboard in the 6th against rookie starter Wade Davis. That set the stage for Rodriguez to blast his 29th home run of the season for a 3-2 Yankees lead. But the Bronx Bombers weren’t done yet.

The Yankees loaded the bases against Davis and reliever Andy Sonnanstine, who appeared to get out of the inning when Jose Molina hit a potential double play tapper in front of the plate. But in his haste to throw home, Sonnanstine lost control of the baseball and everyone was safe. Two batters later Johnny Damon made him pay for the error with a 2-run double that extended the Yankees lead to 6-2. That’s when things really got interesting.

Mark Teixiera came to the plate tied with the Rays’ Carlos Pena for the AL lead in home runs. Pena’s season ended early when a CC Sabathia pitch broke three of his fingers. David Price threw at Teixeira Friday night in retaliation and manager Joe Maddon decided on Sunday that Teixeira would not lead the AL in home runs by himself, ordering an intentional walk (Teixeira did win the AL RBI crown).

Teixeira got the last laugh though as he watched from the dugout after being removed for a pinch-runner. Rodriguez blasted a Sonnanstine delivery over the n right-center field fence for a grand slam. One inning, two swings of the bat and just like that A-Rod reached the 30/100 milestone and also tied Mark McGwire for 8th place on the all-time major league home run list with 583 round-trippers. A-Rod also broke the AL record for RBI in an inning.

Game Notes

A.J. Burnett won his 13th game with a decent outing. He did cross up Jose Molina once, which resulted in a Rays’ run when the ball ricocheted off the inside of the catcher’s knee. There is still a lot of speculation that Molina will catch Burnett in theALDS.

The Yankees will now sit and watch Tuesday’s one game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, both of whom won on Sunday. The Tigers will start rookie Rick Porcello, while the Twins counter with Scott Baker. With the best record, the Yankees had the option of starting the ALDS on Wednesday or Thursday, and opted for the former.

Joba Chamberlain worked a 1-2-3 inning on Sunday as he prepares to most likely work out of the pen in the post-season.

The Yankees 103 wins was the highest franchise total since the team also won 103 in 2002.

Scranton Wins Governors' Cup

The Scranton Yankees completed a three game sweep of the Durham Bulls to win the International League championship. The Yankees captured the Governors' Cup with a 20-2 pasting on Friday night.

Already leading 11-1, Scranton put eight runs on the board in the sixth inning to put the game completely out of reach. Juan Miranda had three hits, including a home run, and drove in a game high six runs. Justin Christian, Bernie Castro, and Chris Basak added 3 RBI each as the Yankees banged out 18 hits.

Phil Hughes picked up the win after striking out 12 batters in 5 innings. He allowed 1 run, 4 hits, and walked 4 batters. Jon Albaladejo and Zach Kroenke finished out the final four innings. Highly touted Rays prospect Wade Davis gave up 8 runs, 5 of them earned, in just two innings of work.

	September 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Scranton/WB 0 5 5 0 1 8 0 0 1 20 18 0 Durham 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 3 W: P. Hughes (1-0, 0.69); L: W. Davis (1-1, 6.75) HR: SWB: J. Miranda (1). DUR: G. Martinez (1).

Scranton Wins Governors' Cup

The Scranton Yankees completed a three game sweep of the Durham Bulls to win the International League championship. The Yankees captured the Governors' Cup with a 20-2 pasting on Friday night.

Already leading 11-1, Scranton put eight runs on the board in the sixth inning to put the game completely out of reach. Juan Miranda had three hits, including a home run, and drove in a game high six runs. Justin Christian, Bernie Castro, and Chris Basak added 3 RBI each as the Yankees banged out 18 hits.

Phil Hughes picked up the win after striking out 12 batters in 5 innings. He allowed 1 run, 4 hits, and walked 4 batters. Jon Albaladejo and Zach Kroenke finished out the final four innings. Highly touted Rays prospect Wade Davis gave up 8 runs, 5 of them earned, in just two innings of work.

	September 12, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Scranton/WB 0 5 5 0 1 8 0 0 1 20 18 0 Durham 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 3 W: P. Hughes (1-0, 0.69); L: W. Davis (1-1, 6.75) HR: SWB: J. Miranda (1). DUR: G. Martinez (1).