With a 7-2, rain-delayed loss to the Rays, the Yankees gave back a game in the American League East and now hold a 1 1/2-game edge. A.J. Burnett started and allowed a run, but he was long gone when the teams took the field after a delay of two hours, 11 minutes. The last out came at 12:34 a.m. Royce Ring, Dustin Mosely and Jonathan Albaladejo each gave up a run in relief. But Chad Gaudin managed to give up three, and Yankees fans can only hope he is pitching his way off the postseason roster. Lance Berkman continued his solid work of late with two hits and an RBI. CC Sabathia faces David Price in Thursday's series finale.
After the first inning, Jon Niese was fine. But A five-run first proved his undoing in a 7-5 loss against the Marlins. Niese ended up lasting 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking six. The Mets got a homer from Carlos Beltran, who went 3-for-5, but couldn't complete the comeback.
