Yanks Stop the Slop at the Trop

photo courtesy of Yahoo sports

Tropicana Field, aka "The Trop" is a hideous excuse of a ballpark. It's a disgrace; arguably the ugliest ball yard in baseball history. A warehouse with low hanging cat walks, recycled rubber turf, and a ceiling that's easy to lose the baseball in.

Maybe it's no wonder that the Yankees play like total garbage every time down there. After two embarrassing losses in a row, the Yankees shook off the doldrums and emerged with a 4-3 victory  over the Tampa Bay Rays to salvage the finale of the three game series.

The Yankees losing streak at the Trop reached nine in a row after Monday and Tuesday defeats. One more loss would have been the Yankees longest losing streak in one opponent's facility since the Yankees dropped 15 straight at Texas from 1989-1991.

Starters David Phelps and David Price matched zeros for a while, but Phelps was forced to leave the game in the 5th inning trailing 1-0 (and after 81 pitches). The Yankees didn't manage a hit off Price until the top of the 5th and finally broke through on the scoreboard when Mark Teixeira hit his 14th home run of the season in the 7th.

The tie was short lived, however, when Carlos Pena turned on a Boone Logan delivery in the home half of the 7th for a go ahead 2-run home run. Pena is pretty much a one dimensional hitter, but he continues to destroy the Yankees, especially in Tampa. Pena has four home runs and 11 RBI against the Yankees in 2012 alone. And for some reason, the Yankees keep pitching to him.

It appeared a sweep was at hand, but the Yankees had some comeback magic thanks to their old pal Kyle Farnsworth. The righty reliever was Tampa's closer last season, but was on the DL for most of this year and was making just his second appearance of the season.

Farnsworth faced five hitters and not one put the ball in play. Eric Chavez led off the 8th with a pinch-hit walk before Farnsworth struck out Derek Jeter looking. It would be the last time Farnsworth could find the strike zone. He proceeded to walk Curtis Granderson, Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez in order to force in a run and cut the Rays' lead to 3-2.

Lefty Jake McGee was brought in to face Robinson Cano, but the red hot hitting second baseman lashed a a 2-run single to give the Yankees the lead for good. Rafael Soriano continued his great season in place of Mariano Rivera and retired the side in order in the 9th for his 19th save. The final out? A pop out by Pena.

Notes

No one had more of a miserable series than Russell Martin. The Yankees starting catcher was 0-8 to drop his batting average to an anemic .179 (he weighs 210) and made two costly errors in Tuesday's 7-4 loss. If Martin's back is the reason for his latest round of hitting woes, he should either be DL'ed or rested through next week's All-Star break to see if it makes a difference.

A Mark Teixeira error was the difference in Monday's 4-3 loss, but it was David Robertson inability to pitch effectively when called upon in the middle of an inning that made the difference. With his fastball still inconsistent, Joe Girardi would be better off keeping D-Rob out of crucial situations for a bit.