James Shields handed New York a lackluster loss in the opener of the final homestand at Yankee Stadium.
Shields tossed eight shutout innings, Evan Longoria celebrated his return to the Tampa Bay Rays' lineup with a bases-loaded single and the AL East leaders beat the Yankees 7-1 Saturday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The Rays took a three-game lead over second-place Boston, which lost 8-1 to Toronto in the opener of a day-night twinbill.
Shields (13-8) allowed five hits, walked none and struck out six to earn his first win against New York. He set a career best for wins and also became the first Tampa Bay pitcher with two seasons of more than 200 innings.
Justin Ruggiano went 3-for-4 with two RBIs as the Rays won for the seventh time in eight games.
Bobby Abreu hit his 17th homer off Trever Miller and Derek Jeter had three hits for New York, which has lost four of five and is almost certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Mike Mussina (17-9) threw five shaky innings and first baseman Jason Giambi committed an unseemly error that led to another run.
New York was fourth in the AL East and nine games back of wild card-leading Boston before Saturday's games.
The Yankees and Rays were rained out Friday night, leading to the split doubleheader on the first day of a 10-game stretch at the House that Ruth Built. Tampa Bay's Matt Garza and Sidney Ponson will get the ball in the makeup game Saturday night.
A sellout crowd of 54,088 was mostly silent as New York sputtered against Shields, who is 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his last four starts. There was an occasional smattering of boos but the fans seemed mostly resigned to their team's poor play.
Longoria went 2-for-5 in his first game since he was hit by J.J. Putz's pitch on Aug. 7, breaking his right wrist. His bases-loaded single off Mussina in the fifth inning gave Tampa Bay a 5-0 lead.
The Rays pushed across two more runs in the sixth. Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly and Ruggiano scored when Giambi threw Carlos Pena's grounder over the head of reliever Dan Giese covering first.
Xtra, xtra: LHP David Price, the top overall pick in the 2007 draft, and OF Jonny Gomes joined Tampa Bay after Triple-A Durham lost in the International League playoffs Friday night. RHPs Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann also were promoted and will join the team on Monday in Florida (Associated Press - Sports).
Shields tossed eight shutout innings, Evan Longoria celebrated his return to the Tampa Bay Rays' lineup with a bases-loaded single and the AL East leaders beat the Yankees 7-1 Saturday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The Rays took a three-game lead over second-place Boston, which lost 8-1 to Toronto in the opener of a day-night twinbill.
Shields (13-8) allowed five hits, walked none and struck out six to earn his first win against New York. He set a career best for wins and also became the first Tampa Bay pitcher with two seasons of more than 200 innings.
Justin Ruggiano went 3-for-4 with two RBIs as the Rays won for the seventh time in eight games.
Bobby Abreu hit his 17th homer off Trever Miller and Derek Jeter had three hits for New York, which has lost four of five and is almost certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Mike Mussina (17-9) threw five shaky innings and first baseman Jason Giambi committed an unseemly error that led to another run.
New York was fourth in the AL East and nine games back of wild card-leading Boston before Saturday's games.
The Yankees and Rays were rained out Friday night, leading to the split doubleheader on the first day of a 10-game stretch at the House that Ruth Built. Tampa Bay's Matt Garza and Sidney Ponson will get the ball in the makeup game Saturday night.
A sellout crowd of 54,088 was mostly silent as New York sputtered against Shields, who is 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his last four starts. There was an occasional smattering of boos but the fans seemed mostly resigned to their team's poor play.
Longoria went 2-for-5 in his first game since he was hit by J.J. Putz's pitch on Aug. 7, breaking his right wrist. His bases-loaded single off Mussina in the fifth inning gave Tampa Bay a 5-0 lead.
The Rays pushed across two more runs in the sixth. Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly and Ruggiano scored when Giambi threw Carlos Pena's grounder over the head of reliever Dan Giese covering first.
Xtra, xtra: LHP David Price, the top overall pick in the 2007 draft, and OF Jonny Gomes joined Tampa Bay after Triple-A Durham lost in the International League playoffs Friday night. RHPs Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann also were promoted and will join the team on Monday in Florida (Associated Press - Sports).
