Rays lose to Yankees, watch AL East lead shrink

NEW YORK (AP) -- Derek Jeter collected three hits for the third straight game, Alex Rodriguez belted a grand slam and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 Sunday to win the weekend series against the AL East leaders.

Mariano Rivera entered with two on in the ninth and struck out Willy Aybar for his 35th save in 36 opportunities. The All-Star closer also moved into a tie with Lee Smith for second on the career list with 478 saves.

Fernando Perez hit a three-run drive for Tampa Bay, which has a two-game division lead over Boston. It was Perez's first career homer.

The Rays host the Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series Monday night.

(Pictured - New York's Robinson Cano, right, tags out Cliff Floyd on a second-inning fielder's choice. AP photo. Click to enlarge.)

Comments

[Error on Jesse]

Price was not the AAA player of the year ... he was named 2008 Minor League Player of the Year by USA Today.

[Jesse]

Ken, you said it best...The people on here bash em when they do bad, and are all over their nuts when they win...Sounds like a bunch of Pukeaneer fans to me...Like you said, regardless, best turnaround season in baseball history, hands down...And that first post by COLT was inane...PRICE WON AAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR...SMH

[Ken]

Man, the comments on here are soooo up-and-down. Rays win, they're great; Rays lose, they're bums. You guys need to chill, especially on our pitchers' performance. On the whole, they've exceeded expectations all year, but don't forget how young they all are (Jackson and Garza are 24, Kaz seems like he's been here forever, but he's the youngest in the rotation at 23) and being given some heavy responsibility for the first time in their careers. What do you expect? We're a young team and it's an open questions whether ANY of our guys will be up to the challenge of the pressure of these final 16 games and then the playoffs. Just chill and enjoy watching this ultra-talented nucleus of players learn and grow. They may mess up from time to time, and they may "back in" to the playoffs as a result, but all of it is good training for 2009, 2010, . . . etc. I know some of you are new to this whole baseball thing, but it's a lot harder to go .600 in MLB than it is in the NFL, NHL, or NCAA football. Be patient, and realistic. Even if we sputter here at the end, you've still witnessed one of the greatest seasons of baseball in recent memory by an underdog in the toughest division in all of MLB.

[Brian J]

Time to refocus, fill The Pit, and send the Sox packing.

[Dave]

Edwin Jackson and Matt Garza embarassed the team with their pitching performances.

They both should have been inspired by the way Shields pitched Saturday but they came out and simply choked.

These 2 guys have to prove everything over again. Can you rely on these 2 when the pressure is on?

Edwin and Matt need to look themselves in the mirror and decide they are ready to move this team to the playoffs.

[Dave]

Edwin Jackson and Matt Garza embarassed the team with their pitching performances.

They both should have been inspired by the way Shields pitched Saturday but they came out and simply choked.

These 2 guys have to prove everything over again. Can you rely on these 2 when the pressure is on?

Edwin and Matt need to look themselves in the mirror and decide they are ready to move this team to the playoffs.

[Rush L.]

Worst road trip EVER.......

[ron_fl]

Price will be and is Priceless. Perez is super and very much needed. Go Rays

[Amanda]

Todd-
I agree. It's just although certain things aren't going so well for us right now (hitting with RISP, anyone? Or actually, just hitting at ALL lately?), credit needs to be given when due. Price did a great job, and it's not fair to degrade his performance because of our frustration with the hitting. Let's focus on the positives! Otherwise, it's gonna be a loooooooong two weeks.

Rays road trip has been horrible, no doubt, but taking two from the Sox and one from the Yankees was probably better than most people expected. Getting swept by Toronto was the worst thing that happened. Now, the key is to win at home. I think the Rays have proven they aren't choking from the pressure of September ball, but if they don't take 2 of 3 from the Sox, they might only be in the wild card, and I don't see them winning on the road very easily in the playoffs. Does anybody? You guys are lucky. I'm a St. Petersburg guy living in Mexico. I watch almost all of this stuff on CBSSportsline.com. And I still love it! Go Rays!

what happened to the pic of the rookies in costume?

[Edgar]

I like David Price. He pitched well if it wasn't for that tease Edwin Jackson poor outing. Edwin Jackson has no business pitching in crunch time vs the Yankees and Red Sox. Price will be in the starting rotation next year replacing Sonnanstine or Jackson. Price is right. I like Price and Perez.

[Todd]

Fine, Price did well. Whoopie !!
Rays fans are more concerned about a poor road trip entering into a crucial 7 game series against the Redsox and Twins. Unless the Bats wake up, the Rays will be home for October. Yes, I said it.
Now go out and prove me wrong Rays.

[Amanda]

Colt, are you serious? "The kid Price was OK"? 5 1/3 innings, 4 Ks, 2 hits in his Major League debut at Yankee Stadium after less than a year in pro ball? "OK"? Really???

[Bradley]

rice was impressive! Did you expect the second coming or what? I think your expectations are unfair to david price,he is a rookie and only 23

[Tim]

colt... Price came in as a "freak show " ???!!! I think he did very well for his 1st appearance .. With a couple of timely bases loaded hits , which have been rare lately, we would have been right in this game ..

[colt]

The bottom line is the Rays lost and the kid Price was OK...now pressure on him at all. The game was already lost and he came in as a basic freak show for the Rays.. time will tell on this lefty. Lets see him start a game firsat before we start building him up. In triple A he was a so so 4.5 ERA and 1-2