Eduardo Perez will never be considered a superstar, but on Tuesday night he sure looked like one. Perez blasted two home runs, the second to tie the game in the ninth inning off of Mariano Rivera, in the Devil Rays’ 4-3 victory over the Yankees. The loss dropped the Yankees 4 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.
For the Yankees, their bullpen struggles continue. Mariano Rivera who looked so dominant during his streak of thirty-one straight saves has now blown two saves and lost a game in the past week. Scott Proctor, brought into the game with one out and a runner on second, balked the runner over to third, walked a batter, intentionally walked a batter and then walked in the winning run.
However, all the blame for the loss cannot be placed on the bullpen. The Yankees had the bases loaded and no one out in the second inning, but failed to score a run. So, like many times before this season, the Yankees have failed to beat the Devil Rays, they are now 4-8 against a team they had dominated in past years winning 80 out of 111 games.
Photo by AP/Chris O'Meara via ESPN
