Ponson, Abreu Keep Yanks Surging

The Yankees continued to have trouble scoring runs yesterday afternoon, but the Yankees pitching continued to come through. One day after Andy Pettitte led the Yankees to a 5-0 win, Sidney Ponson and three relievers held the Rays to just one run in a thrilling 2-1, 10th inning win for the Bronx Bombers.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 10th, and Mariano Rivera having already pitched two innings, Bobby Abreu doubled home Derek Jeter with the game winner. It pushed the Yankees to within 6.5 games of the Rays in the AL East race and kept them 4.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card chase.

The Yankees hadn't scored since the 1st inning, when Jeter drew a one out walk from Grant Balfour in the 10th. Abreu then hit a gapper to right-center. Jeter raced around the bases to easily beat the throw home. It touched off a wild celebration that culminated with Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera dumping a Gatorade bucket on Abreu's head. In a post-game interview with Suzyn Waldman, Abreu said it felt "cold, but good".

None of it would have happened if not for the Yankees pitching. Ponson wasn't perfect, but he allowed just a solo home run to Carlos Pena in the 6th and escaped early jams in the 2nd and 4th innings. The Yankees gave him a quickly lead in the first, when Jeter singled off of Edwin Jackson, moved to 2nd base on Abreu's walk, and scored on Jason Giambi's single to left-center. The mustache clad crowd was appreciate on "Jason Giambi fake mustache" (not the actual promo name) day.

Jose Veras and Kyle Farsnworth retired all six men they faced before Rivera came on in the 9th. He allowed a one out to Cliff Floyd, but no other base runners, as he recorded his second 2-inning win in 4 days.

The Yankees had a chance to win the game in the 9th when Jorge Posada drew a lead off walk from J.P. Howell, and Cano sacrificed pinch-runner Justin Christian to 2nd base. But Balfour came on to strike out Cabrera, and retired Jose Molina on a pop out after Christian had stolen 3rd base.


News and Notes

Joe Girardi is hopeful that Hideki Matsui will be able to rejoin the club by month's end.


July 9, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	5	0
NY Yankees	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		2	7	0

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	3	0	.275
Crawford, LF	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	.280
Upton, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.280
Pena, 1B	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	.233
Longoria, 3B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.281
Floyd, DH	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.256
1-Gomes, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.186
Navarro, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	.312
Hinske, RF	2	0	0	0	1	2	1	.262
Brignac, R, SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000
Totals	33	1	5	1	3	11	17
1-Ran for Floyd in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Pena (14, 6th inning off Ponson, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Iwamura 2; Upton; Pena 4; Longoria. RBI: Pena (47). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Brignac, R 3. GIDP: Crawford. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Upton (11, 2nd base by Ponson/Molina).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jackson	6.1	6	1	1	2	3	0	3.93
Howell	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.73
Balfour (L, 2-1)	1.0	1	1	1	1	2	0	1.37

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, LF	5	0	1	0	0	3	2	.143
Jeter, SS	4	2	1	0	1	1	2	.284
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	1	1	0	1	.274
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.317
Giambi, 1B	3	0	1	1	1	1	0	.257
Posada, DH	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	.282
1-Christian, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.247
Molina, C	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.231
Totals	33	2	7	2	4	8	14
1-Ran for Posada in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (21, Balfour). TB: Gardner; Jeter; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Giambi; Cabrera; Molina. RBI: Giambi (54), Abreu (57). 2-out RBI: Giambi. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 2; Rodriguez; Jeter; Molina. S: Molina; Cano. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (4, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro), Christian (1, 3rd base off Balfour/Navarro). FIELDING DP: (Ponson-Jeter-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	6.0	5	1	1	2	4	1	3.96
Veras	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.45
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.60
Rivera (W, 4-3)	2.0	0	0	0	1	4	0	1.06

HBP: Hinske (by Ponson), Longoria (by Ponson).
Pitches-strikes: Jackson 100-63, Howell 37-22, Balfour 27-18,
Ponson 87-50, Veras 14-8, Farnsworth 11-6, Rivera 30-18.
Ground outs-fly outs: Jackson 4-12, Howell 2-1, Balfour 0-1,
Ponson 8-5, Veras 1-0, Farnsworth 1-1, Rivera 1-1.
Batters faced: Jackson 27, Howell 7, Balfour 5, Ponson 25,
Veras 3, Farnsworth 3, Rivera 7.
Inherited runners-scored: Howell 1-0, Balfour 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Dana DeMuth.
2B: Lance Barksdale. 3B: Doug Eddings.
Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:19.
Att: 53,552.

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