With all the progress the Yankees made in their chase for the American League Wild Card spot over the weekend, one might think they would do well against the horrible Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Not exactly - the Yankees lost 4-3 to the Devil Rays last night. Looking at past performances this season against the D-Rays, you can see that the Yankees have had their problems. The Yankees have a dismal 4-10 record against the Devil Rays this season.
The loss last night went to Randy Johnson, who seems to have finally come around. Despite the loss, Johnson had a respectable performance, allowing 3 runs in 6 and 1/3 innings. The bullpen blew the game when Tom Gordon allowed the tying run to score in the 7th inning and Mariano Rivera picked up the loss after a 9th inning error by Robinson Cano.
On the plus side, the Yankees announced that Chien-Ming Wang will return Thursday night against the Devil Rays. Time will tell whether he performs as well as he did before his shoulder injury. Wang's performance may go a long way in determining whether the Yankees can hold on to the final spot in the playoffs.
Photo by AP/Michael Kim via ESPN
