The Yankees made this game hard on themselves by not scoring in innings two through eight. The pitching, for the most part, did everything that could be asked. But on a night when Boston and Toronto both won (Seattle’s result won’t be known until later), the power outage for the majority of the game doomed the Bombers. As such, the Yankees did not reduce the Magic Number, the pressure on New York continues to build as the Rays continue to love nothing more than to kill the Yankees’ playoff chances.
The Rays jumped out to an early lead in this one.