Ben Zobrist doubled. Carlos Pena walked. With 2 outs, the Rays got another walk. But the Yankees pitchers worked out of trouble to hold the Rays scoreless. That happened in both the 1st and 5th innings for the Rays. David Phelps was the opposite of dominant, allowing 3 hits and 4 walks in 4.2 innings while striking out 3 in 4.2 innings. But with help from Boone Logan in the 5th, Phelps didn’t allow a run. Jeff Niemann pitched well for the Rays. He had a moderately rough first inning, allowing a Derek Jeter single to begin the game and a 2-out opposite field double to Robinson Cano to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Niemann went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. He threw 69 of 102 pitches for strikes and forced 9 groundouts to 4 flyouts. It was his first start of the season in which he went 6 or more innings. Yet he left in line for the loss.

In the 8th, Rafael Soriano came for the Yankees. B.J. Upton greeted him with a single. Then the Rays got a break as a Robinson Cano error on a throw to second base for a force pulled Derek Jeter off the bag to give the Rays 1st and 2nd with nobody out. But Soriano came back to strike out Luke Scott and get Will Rhymes to ground into a force play before pinch-hitter Desmond Jennings flied out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 8th, Fernando Rodney came in for the Rays- partially to keep the Rays down 1-0 and also because he hadn’t pitched in three games. Rodney allowed 2 out singles to Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, but Will Rhymes was able to corral Mark Teixeira‘s rocket groundball to turn it into a 4-6-3 double play to get the Rays out of trouble. The Rays would have to get something off David Robertson in the 9th.

One swing, and the night instantly changed. (Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE)

The Rays wasted no time. Sean Rodriguez singled to left on the first pitch Robertson threw. Then Brandon Allen came out to pinch-hit for Chris Gimenez and came on swinging, hitting a line drive to right field. Rodriguez rounded second and went towards third and Nick Swisher came up throwing, but on the throw to third, Rodriguez slid in safely and Allen alertly took second on the play. ThE. Robertson walked Ben Zobrist on four pitches (definitely some intention involved there) to load the bases and bring up Carlos Pena. For the second consecutive night, Robertson struck out Pena looking. B.J. Upton came up to the plate, and the Yankees were a double play away from winning the gamE. Robertson fell behind Upton 2-1. And then he left a fastball up and away, and Upton went with it, hitting a flyball to right field, deep enough for Rodriguez to score to tie the game even though Swisher came through with an incredible throw to make it relatively close. Matt Joyce came to the platE. Robertson got ahead of Joyce 1-2. But thE. Robertson left a fastball up, and Joyce muscled it out to deep right. He lost his footing on the swing and fell down, twisting his ankle. But it didn’t matter. Joyce got enough of the pitch to drill it into the first row of the right field seats, and suddenly the Rays had a 4-1 lead. Joyce limped across the bases, but he was fine and remained in the game.Fernando Rodney worked around a single in the 9th to close out his own win, and the Rays won 4-1. Rodney (2-0) earned the win, while Robertson (0-1) took the tough loss, blowing the  save with the all eyes on him following the injury to Mariano Rivera.

The Rays finally came through. They went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position in this game. They left 11 men on base. But that was bound to end. Joyce saw an opportunity on the misplaced pitch from Robertson, and he took advantage. The Rays stole a game from the Yankees. And now, with David Price set to go up against CC Sabathia on Thursday night, the Rays have a chance to come up with a series win.

May 8, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees left fielder

It was a rainy night at Yankee Stadium- for multiple reasons. Ivan Nova allowed a single to Ben Zobrist to begin the game. But after that, he retired 13 in a row, striking out 6 and looked absolutely in control. Shields worked around 2 walks and a hit in the first three innings to match Nova zero for zero, but Robinson Cano doubled to begin the 4th. Shields then forced a couple of groundballs, the first of which advanced Cano to third and the second of which was a groundball to Will Rhymes with the infield in and Rhymes gunned down Cano trying to score for the inning’s second out. But Shields left a changeup up to Raul Ibanez, and Ibanez hit a long home run into the right field seats to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Shields threw another errant changeup in the 5th that resulted in another blast, this one off the bat of Curtis Granderson, to had the Yankees a 3-0 advantage. Shields went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking 3. 69 of his 103 pitches were strikes. He got 11 groundouts to 2 flyouts, but the two bad changeup cost him big-time.

The Rays got a run back in the 6th when Nova hanged a slider to Jose Molina and Molina didn’t miss it, drilling a solo home run. The following inning, Luke Scott saw a changeup left belt-high, and he got just enough of it to get it into the first row of the right field seats to pull the Rays within 3-2. Jeff Keppinger followed with a walk before Will Rhymes doubled into the right field corner. Keppinger rounded third before being held up by third base coach Tom Foley as the Yankees got the ball in. Still, the Yankees had second and third with 1 out. Sean Rodriguez then hit a flyball to right field, but Foley held Keppinger up as the ball was too shallow. Nova then struck out Jose Molina, escaping the threat. The Rays had blown a golden opportunity.

Raul Ibanez led off the bottom of the 7th against Burke Badenhop with a high flyball off the upper portion of the foul pole to restore the Yankees’ 2-run lead. The Rays faced off against old friend Rafael Soriano in the top of the 8th and Ben Zobrist greeted him rudely with a leadoff triple. Soriano came back to strike out Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton before a wild pitch allowing Zobrist to score to make it a 4-3 game. But the Yankees got a key insurance run in the bottom of the inning on a Mark Teixeira RBI double off of Joel Peralta (run charged to Jake McGee).

Entering the top of the 9th, the Rays trailed 5-3 to the Yankees. But the Yankees’ 9th inning weapon, Mariano Rivera, was on the DL after his unfortunate knee injury. Instead, David Robertson trotted out for the 9th for the Yankees. Robertson is known for making things exciting. That was most definitely the case on Tuesday night. With 1 out, Robertson walked Will Rhymes. Sean Rodriguez followed with a single. Brandon Allen came up to the plate to pinch-hit for Jose Molina. He was the tying run. But Robertson struck him out on just three pitches. That could be Allen’s final at-bat as a Ray as outfielder Brandon Guyer will be called up to the big leagues on Wednesday and a corresponding roster move needs to made. But Ben Zobrist followed with a walk and it was bases loaded, 2 outs, and the tying runs in scoring positioN. Robertson got ahead of Carlos Pena 0-2 on two called strikes but then he missed with two straight to make the situation even more tense. But Robertson got a call on a fastball on the outside corner for strike three, and the Yankees won 5-3. Nova improved to 4-1 with a win. He went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 8 while walking 2. Shields (5-1) took his first loss of the year, aN. Robertson recorded his 1st save of the season and 4th of his career. It was riveting game between the Rays and Yankees but the Yankees came up with 3 home runs to team with Nova’s great outing. The Rays have to be kicking themselves after going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They dropped to 19-11 on the year. The Rays and Yankees back at it on Wednesday night with Jeff Niemann taking on the rookie David Phelps. The Rays look to rebound and even this series at a game apiece, and it should be another exciting game.