NEW YORK — B.J. Upton and the Tampa Bay Rays knocked around CC Sabathia, took a few lumps and left the Bronx with the confidence - and schedule - that could carry them to an AL East title.
Upton and Carl Crawford each drove in two runs in a seven-run sixth inning, and David Price beat Sabathia in their much-anticipated rematch to lead Tampa Bay past the New York Yankees 10-3 Thursday night.
“I love that we were able to fight back as a group, especially after falling behind 2-0 here against that team,” Rays Manager Joe Maddon said. “We had some really good at-bats and kept grinding everything out in typical fashion. To lose the first two games here and end up with a split says a lot.”
Price (18-6) labored through six innings, but Sabathia (20-7) struggled even more. Tampa Bay beat New York for the second consecutive day, splitting the four game set and pulling within a half-game of the first-place Yankees in the AL East.
The victory gave Tampa Bay a 10-8 edge in the season series - the first tiebreaker to decide the division title if the teams are all square after 162 games. The Rays finish the year by playing Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City. The Yankees have six games against Boston and three at Toronto.
“I know on paper it looks good, but from my perspective I don’t take anybody for granted,” Maddon said. “We just have to keep playing the kind of game we played the last two nights. I’ve been an anti-assumptionist for the last few years - I don’t want to start right now.”
New York first baseman Mark Teixeira won’t use the schedule as an excuse.
“We have a chance to finish it off. We’ll just have to work a little harder,” he said. “We can’t complain about having a tougher schedule because if that’s the case we don’t belong in the playoffs anyway.”
Yankees reliever Javier Vazquez tied a big league record by hitting three consecutive batters in the seventh inning as the Rays added two runs without getting a hit. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jeff Weaver was the last do it, nailing three Atlanta Braves on Aug. 21, 2004.
With the game out of hand - and maybe concerned about retribution - Yankees Manager Joe Girardi emptied his bench for the eighth inning. He even gave up the designated hitter spot, which would have putVazquez up eighth.
Ten days earlier, Sabathia and Price showed why they’re leading candidates for the AL Cy Young Award, each pitching eight scoreless innings in a game the Rays won 1-0 in 11 innings.
In the sequel, neither was as sharp.
Sabathia took a 3-1 lead into the sixth, having thrown 76 pitches and given up six singles. But the Rays were relentless in their big inning.
“I’m supposed to be able to go out there and put up zeros. I wasn’t able to do that in the sixth,” Sabathia said. “It’s disappointing, especially after the guys had scratched out a lead for me.”
Sabathia gave up a season-high seven runs in 5 1 /3 innings, his shortest outing since going five innings against the Mets on May 23.
Price gave up a long two-run home run to Marcus Thames in the second to break the string of zeros between aces. Ben Zobrist had an RBI single in the third to snap Sabathia’s run.
Price left after six innings. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. He struck out seven.
“I’ll take it,” Price said. “It’s a tough place to pitch. That’s a tough lineup.”
BLUE JAYS 1, MARINERS 0
Jose Bautista drove in the only run with his major league-leading 50th home run to lift host Toronto over Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki also became the first player with 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, breaking his own record with a fifth-inning single for the Mariners. Shawn Hill (1-2) pitched five shutout innings to win for the first time since April 10, 2009, with San Diego. Kevin Gregg closed it out for his 35th save in 40 chances. Bautista became the 26th player in major league history to reach the 50-home runmark with a first-inning shot off Felix Hernandez (12-12).
ROYALS 4, INDIANS 2
Sean O’Sullivan earned his first victory as a starter for Kansas City and Joakim Soria converted his 33rd consecutive save in a victory over host Cleveland. O’Sullivan (3-6) gave up 2 runs and 6 hits over 6-plus innings to beat Mitch Talbot (9-13). The right-hander left with a 3-0 lead and two on in the seventh. Philip Humber allowed both Indians to score, but stranded runners at second and third to end the inning. Soria worked a perfect ninth for his 41st save in 43 chances this season. The All-Star reliever has tossed 21 2 /3 consecutive scoreless innings and saved 65 percent of Kansas City’s 63 victories. Mike Aviles and Kila Ka’aihue homered for the Royals.
National League GIANTS 13, CUBS 0 Juan Uribe hit a grand slam and a two-run home run, both shots coming during a nine-run second inning that sent San Francisco past host Chicago. Giants pitchers have gone 17 consecutive games giving up three or fewer runs, the longest streak since the Chicago White Sox set the record with 20 in a row in 1917, the Elias Sports Bureau said. Uribe had only two hits in his previous 21 at-bats before his quick six RBI as the Giants teed off on Ryan Dempster (14-11) and reliever Thomas Diamond.
CARDINALS 9, PIRATES 2 Albert Pujols hit his 40th and 41st home runs and Matt Hollidayreached the 100-RBI mark, leading St. Louis past host Pittsburgh. The Cardinals snapped a three game losing streak and won for just the 13th time in 38 games since Aug. 14, the last day they were in first place in the NL Central. St. Louis’ chances of defending its division title remain slim. The Cardinals trail idle Cincinnati by 7 1 /2 games with only 10 games left. Pittsburgh had its season-high fivegame winning streak come to an end. The Pirates are one defeat short of their first 100-loss season since 2001.
NATIONALS 7, ASTROS 2
Michael Morse homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Roger Bernadina and Danny Espinosa hit two-run home runs and Ross Detwiler earned his first victory in nearly a year as host Washington beat Houston. It was the third consecutive victory for Washington, and the first time it had won three consecutive at home since July 29-31. Houston has lost three in a row for the first time since early August. Detwiler (1-2) pitched six innings, allowing two runs. It was his first victory since Sept. 28, 2009. He missed much of the season after right hip surgery in February.
BREWERS 8, MARLINS 3 Corey Hart hit one of three Milwaukee home runs, helping Yovani Gallardo and the host Brewers beat Florida. Hart reached 30 home runs for the first time in his career with his first-inning drive. Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder hit consecutive shots in the seventh on the first three pitches of Sandy Rosario’s major league debut. Gallardo (14-7) improved to 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA in four September starts.
Thursday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE St. Louis 9, Pittsburgh 2 Washington 7, Houston 2 San Francisco 13, Chicago Cubs 0 Milwaukee 8, Florida 3 Colorado at Arizona, (n) San Diego at LA Dodgers, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 1, Seattle 0 Kansas City 4, Cleveland 2 Tampa Bay 10, NY Yankees 3 Texas at Oakland, (n)
Sports, Pages 17 on 09/24/2010