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.

Desmond Jennings led off the bottom of first with a walk. Two batters later, Evan Longoria singled and then a groundball gave the Rays second and third with 2 outs. Up came Sean Rodriguez to the plate, and Joe Girardi to the mound for the Yankees. Girardi was obviously not there to take Sabathia out of the ballgame in the first inning. He told him a few brief words and returned to the dugout. Sabathia intentionally walked the righty-hitting Rodriguez to bring up Carlos Pena in his first plate appearances in his return to the Rays. Pena entered the at-bat 4 for 35 against Sabathia and he’s coming off a year in which he hit just .133 against lefties. But this time would be different. Pena worked the count to 3-2. Then Sabathia left a fastball up. And Pena did not miss it. Pena drilled a long home run into the right field seats to give the Rays a 4-0 lead. Things were looking up. The Rays had a lead with their ace on the hill. But today was not you average day.

The Yankees got 2 runs back in the top of the 2nd on an RBI groundball by Raul Ibanez and a wild pitch by Shields. Then things came apart in the 3rd. Shields allowed singles to Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez, giving the Yankees 1st and 3rd, and after Mark Teixeira popped out, Nick Swisher hit a groundball to first. Pena fielded as he saw Cano sprint home, and he thought he had a chance so he threw to Jose Molina in an attempt to tag out Cano at home. But Cano slid in ahead of the tag, and the Yankees were within 4-3. The next batter, Raul Ibanez, hit a three-run home run to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. Pena’s incorrect decision on the groundball to hit that should have been a sure out at first led to an additional Yankee run. In the bottom of the inning, Evan Longoria blased a no-doubt home run into the left field seats to pull the Rays’ within 6-5. The game could have been tied. All we can say is “it happens.”

Neither Shields nor Sabathia had anywhere near the type of Opening Day they wanted. Jamie lasted 5 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits, striking out 3 and walking 3. Shields actually recorded 10 groundouts compared to 0 flyballs and threw 66 of 104 pitches for strikes, but he was awfully and could not put away hitters. Sabathia lasted 6 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, striking out 7 while walking 3. The big thing for him was two home runs allowed.

This game turned into a bullpen chess match. Maddon replaced Shields with J.P. Howell for 0.2 IP before bringing in Wade Davis (1.o IP), Burke Badenhop (1 batter, an E5 on Longoria), Jake McGee (1.0 IP) and Joel Peralta. After the proven formula of using Shields his ace failed, all of Maddon’s bullpen moves paid off as they allowed four walks but no hits and no runs. Peralta allowed a long flyball to Mark Teixeira, but it stayed foul. After walking Teixeira, Peralta struck out Nick Swisher to escape the jam.

Girardi brought in ex-Ray Rafael Soriano for the 7th, and he worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless inning. Then came David Robertson, who dominated hitters in 2011 as he led AL relievers in strikeouts. Sean Rodriguez led off the the inning with a walk and Carlos Pena followed with a single, advancing Rodriguez to third. But that didn’t matter to Robertson, renowned for his dramatic escapes for jams in 2011, who went right back down to business. Robertson struck out Stephen Vogt in his first MLB at-bat, struck out Jose Molina as he failed to put the ball in play on a two-strike squeeze play, and then struck out Matt Joyce to get out of trouble. Some things never change.

But others do. Desmond Jennings singled to begin the 9th against the immortal Yankees closer. Then came Ben Zobrist to the plate. And he disturbed the natural order of things, drilling a triple to right-center to tie the game at 6. Two intentional walks followed and then Sean Rodriguez struck out. Up came Carlos Pena to the plate- Pena, the game’s hero, but who also gave up the run that for a long time was the difference in the game. But there was no denying what Pena would be remembered for. Pena drilled a long flyball that landed in left-center for a walk-off single as the Rays emergerd victorious 7-6 on Opening Day. Fernando Rodney (1-0) was the winner for the Rays while Rivera (0-1) took the loss.

It felt like a playoff game at the Trop on Friday. It was a game to remember and what a way to start the season!