Yankee Guns Blank Rays 1-0

Wright strikes out career high 10

Jaret Wright broke double digits in strikeouts for the first time since he was with Cleveland in 1998 and Bernie Williams singled in the sole run in the 4th inning as the Yankees toppled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1-0. Wright was an immediate trouble in the game, allowing a single to lead off hitter Julio Lugo and a double to speedster Carl Crawford. But with 2nd and 3rd and no one out, Wright retired the side stranding both base runners. Rocco Baldelli lined hard to Derek Jeter for the first out before Aubrey Huff fouled out and Jorge Cantu struck out. The Rays would manage only 2 hits the remainder of the game.

The Yankees didn't have much better luck with Jae Seo and the Rays bullpen, but broke through in the 4th. Jason Giambi singled and moved to 2nd two batters later when Alex Rodriguez grounded out to third. That brought up Bernie Williams who has managed to come up with some big hits this season as he does every season. Williams singled to center to drive in Giambi for the game's lone run. It was Bernie's 2nd hit of the night and the 3rd and final hit the Yankees would get.

Wright (5-5) changed the grip on his slider back to the grip he used before hurting his shoulder last season and it paid off. Wright even surprised himself with his strike out total. He recorded 2 of 3 outs by strikeouts in the 2nd thru 4th innings. Wright left after the 6th inning have thrown 91 pitches, 56 of them for strikes. More importantly he did not walk a batter.

Seo's record dropped to 0-2 as a Devil Ray (2-6 overall with his time with the LA Dodgers) as threw a solid 7 innings. Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth retired the 6 men they faced before Mariano picked up his 19th save by pitching a 1-2-3 9th inning. The Yankee pitching record 14 strikeouts as Proctor and Rivera had 2 each. Rivera is now 19-19 in save situations when he only has to pitch 1 inning.

Notes

Derek Jeter's 12 game hitting streak came to an end as he went 0-4. He went 21-49 (.429) over the streak to raise his average 15 points to .348. Last night's oh-fer dropped his average to .344.

Gary Sheffield stopped by Tropicana Field and told reporters he felt be would be back by September 1. He expects to have his cast removed shortly after the All-Star break.

By going 2-3 last night Bernie Williams raised his average to .373 at The Trop. That's the highest of any player with a minimum 100 at-bats.