If you've been concerned with CC Sabathia this year, nothing that could be written about this game would really make you feel better. Sabathia went seven innings, but he gave up seven earned runs to the Rays in that time. Four of those runs came via two-run blasts from the likes of Sean Rodriguez and James Loney. CC has gotten pretty roughed up at times this season, and with his velocity still trailing behind what we've come to believe it should be, an outing like this won't calm the fears of anyone thinking that something may not be quite right with the big lefty's arm.
For most of the game, it seemed like CC's disaster outing wouldn't matter. The offense made Alex Cobb look like the best pitcher on Earth for most of the afternoon, but managed to cause a little trouble for him in the ninth inning. Brett Gardner led off the ninth with a solo homer, his fifth of the year, to right field. Robinson Cano picked up a single and moved to second on a wild pitch before Cobb was replaced by Cesar Ramos. Cano took third on indifference, then Cobb issued walks to Travis Hafner and Lyle Overbay to load the bases with one out. David Adams very nearly cleared the bases with a grand slam, but the ball hit off the wall in deep left field that allowed two runs to score and left runners on third and second with just one out.
Ramos was pulled in favor of Joel Peralta, who managed to strike out Ichiro Suzuki and Jayson Nix to end the threat and the game. Maybe with less of a hole to climb out of, the offense finds a way to come back from this one. As bas as they looked for innings 1-8, they looked pretty good in the ninth. There's probably something to be said for not quitting when the score is so lopsided, but it would probably be cliche.
Alex Cobb now has 14 strikeouts and has allowed only one earned run in 16.2 innings against the Yankees this season. That's fun. Playing at The Trop hasn't been pleasant for the Yankees, so they have to walk away from this one feeling at least pretty good about taking two of three. Going for a sweep with your ace on the mound should probably yield better results than this one did, but at least no one got hurt...today.
Making his Yankee debut, David Huff pitched one inning in which he issued two walks, struck out the first batter he saw, gave up one hit and allowed a run. This man is responsible for getting rid of Ben Francisco, so we'll let him slide for not being perfect in a blowout this time.
The Yankees head to Flushing for the start of a two-game set against the Mets at Citi Field tomorrow. Phil Hughes gets the start opposite Jon Niese at 7:10 pm.
More from Pinstriped Bible:
Ben Francisco Designated for Assignment
Yankees Weekly Report Card: 5/19 - 5/25
Baby Bomber Recap: Corban Joseph and Ronnier Mustelier homer in loss