Sabathia Spanked in Attempt at 20
There was a possibility of the aforementioned "Sportsgasm" tonight. Afterall, CC Sabathia was going for his 20th win in the Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays game and the New York Rangers were opening their NHL season with a road game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
"Nightmare on Elm Street" was more like it. The team lost both games, though the Rangers at least made a game of it.
Things started out poorly for CC Sabathia and only got worse. He lasted on 2-plus innings and got charged with nine runs, five of which were earned. His night ended by firing his glove into a collection of water bottles on the bench. In CC's first and last starts the season he was 0-2 with a 12.86 ERA. It was also Sabathia's first loss since July 28.
Things started out even worse for the Yankees when fireballer David Price hit Mark Teixeira in the left shoulder during the 1st inning. It was apparently in retaliation for Sabathia hitting Carlos Pena with a pitch on September 7. It ended Pena's season, though he still leads the AL with 39 HRs. (Got a good laugh when it was reported on Twitter that the Rays announcer said it started the Rays downward spiral. The Rays have sucked from the get go gents.)
It was a big night for the Rays' B.J. Upton. He started his night with a fine running catch in center field and then became the first Tampa Bay Ray to hit for the cycle. And he completed teh feat in the 5th inning! Upton started with the hardest hit, a triple, followed by a double, home run, and finally a single. He wasn't done either, adding another single for a 5-5, 6 RBI night.
On the bright side, Juan Miranda hit his first major league home run.
You Hockey Puck
The Rangers had to endure the opening night ceremonies in Pittsburgh, which included raising the championship banner and seeing the Stanley Cup, which has not touched Rangers hands since 1994.
The Pens tallied first on their killer power play, but Chris Drury tied it in the 1st period, off a nice feed from new Ranger Chris Higgins. But the Pens quick strike offense put together two second period goals in just a 1:08 span.
First Sidney Crosby cleaned up a loose puck in front, putting it past Henrik Lundqvist for his first goal of the season. Some sloppy play in front then led to a Tyler Kennedy goal for a 3-1 lead.
The Rangers put pressure on Marc Andre-Fleury in the third period and the Rangers biggest offensive acquisition, Marian Gaborik lit the lamp to cut the lead to 3-2 at 5:56. But that would be it for the night, as the Rangers went 0-4 with the man advantage.
| Team | Shots on Goal | Faceoffs | Power Plays | ||||||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | Won | Lost | Converted | Total | ||||||
| NY Rangers | 7 | 12 | 8 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 4 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 9 | 12 | 10 | 31 | 28 | 28 | 1 | 2 | |||||
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