Game recap: Yankees at Devil Rays 7/15/07

The Yankees overcame another rough start to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Sunday afternoon by a score of 7-6. They also won the four-game series 3 to 1.

For the second consecutive game, the Yankees' starter put the team in an early hole. After two innings today, the Yankees were trailing 3-0 after Mike Mussina gave up RBI singles to Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford. Yesterday, behind Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees were trailing by 3-0 after the first inning.

The Yankees took the lead in the top of the fifth when they were able to push across four runs. Andy Phillips tripled to center to score a run, as Upton misplayed the ball. Backup catcher Wil Nieves then doubled home Phillips. The big blow came off the bat of Derek Jeter, as he homered to right center to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Pena hit a two-run home run off of Ron Villone, who gave up a run for the first time since June 4 (nine appearances).

The Yankees quickly came back again. Alex Rodriguez led off the eighth inning with a double. He then moved to third on a Hideki Matsui single. Robinson Cano drove home Rodriguez on a sacrifice fly. Following a pitching change, Phillips singled home Matsui. This prompted radio announcer John Sterling to call this hit "Phillips' biggest hit of the year." Two batters were walked before a Jeter RBI single to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead.

Kyle Farnsworth again made the game interesting. He came into the game to start the eighth inning and promptly served up a leadoff double to Upton. After a Greg Norton pop out, Ty Wigginton doubled home Upton to cut the Yankees lead to one run. Farnsworth and the Yankees were able to escape further trouble when Dioner Navarro lined out into a double play, as Phillips made a great play to dive to the ball.

Mariano Rivera shut the door in the ninth to preserve another series victory for the Yankees. This was his 13th save of the season. Luis Vizcaino got the win in relief - his fifth - after coming in to relieve Villone in the seventh. He is now in a tie for second for the most wins by a Yankee pitcher this season.

Mussina gave up 11 hits in six innings of work. He gave up three earned runs, walked two and didn't strike out any batters. Edwin Jackson started for the Devil Rays. In a no-decision, he gave up four runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked two.

With this win, the Yankees are one game above .500. Boston lost today, so the Yankees are eight games behind Boston in the loss column.

The Yankees open up a four-game series at home tomorrow against the Toronto Blue Jays. Kei Igawa will match up against Josh Towers. This may be Igawa's last chance to prove to the Yankees that he could be a capable Major League pitcher.

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