Yankees fall to Rays, 6-2
Photo credit: AP | CC Sabathia throws during the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Galleries
Yankees at RaysST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Call it a bad night all around for the Yankees' pitching staff.
And CC Sabathia struggling through 52/3 innings and getting outpitched by Scott Kazmir in a 6-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field might be the least of the problems.
After the game came the announcement that Chien-Ming Wang's season is officially over.
Wang had an MRI on Monday and met with Dr. James Andrews Tuesday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala., where it was determined the righthanded pitcher will have arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder capsule this morning. The shoulder capsule is the fibrous membrane that surrounds the shoulder joint.
Dr. Andrews, who operated on Wang's shoulder in 2001, will perform the surgery.
The Yankees were already making plans, assuming they wouldn't have Wang the rest of the season. They've been looking closely at their options in terms of acquiring a starter at the trade deadline, though the severity of Wang's shoulder injury surprised them somewhat.
"There were no complaints at all about his shoulder until he came out of the game," pitching coach Dave Eiland said afterward, referencing Wang's last start, July 4 against the Blue Jays when he left after 51/3 innings. "So there were no warning signs that we knew of."
Joe Girardi said Jorge Posada had a similar surgery, though Girardi didn't want to hypothesize how long Wang's rehab and recovery might take.
"We'll know more after the surgery," Girardi said.
Wang missed the rest of last season after injuring his foot in Houston running the bases and he was on the disabled list earlier this season with abductor muscle weakness. "I feel for him because he's been through a lot the last 14, 15 months," Girardi said. "Hopefully, this will be it for him with the surgeries."
Shortly after Girardi spoke, one of his bullpen standouts this season, Alfredo Aceves, who hasn't pitched the last three games, disclosed he has "fatigue" in his right shoulder. Aceves said he will play catch Wednesday to determine if he'll be able to pitch Wednesday night.
"I just needed a few days off," Aceves said.
Aceves stressed he was not injured. "I know what kind of pain lets you pitch and what kind of pain doesn't let you pitch," Aceves said. "It's one that will let me pitch."
As for last night's loss, the Yankees (61-39) remain 21/2 games up on Boston because of the Red Sox's 9-8 loss to Oakland. The Yankees' lead over the Rays (55-46), in danger of falling out of the playoff race had they been swept in this series, drops to 61/2.
Sabathia wasn't sharp, though hindered by some uncharacteristically sloppy defense - Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both had wild throwing errors to first. Sabathia allowed nine hits and six runs, five earned, in 52/3 innings. Kazmir was outstanding, giving up one run and five hits in seven innings.
Girardi said Sabathia's "command was off," and the lefty didn't disagree, saying though he came in having won three of his previous four starts, he has lacked control with his fastball.
"I probably haven't thrown a first-pitch strike in three weeks," Sabathia said. "It's tough to pitch when you're behind in the count all the time."
The Rays scored one run in the second after Jeter's error and twice in the third aided by Rodriguez's errant throw to first. Evan Longoria hit his 20th homer in the fifth to make it 4-1 and Tampa tagged Sabathia for two more runs in the sixth, chasing him from the game.
"It was horrible," Sabathia said. "This team is too good a hitting lineup and too good of a team for me to not even give us a chance. This is definitely frustrating."
That kind of night all around.
