The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-6, in the 2012 season-opener from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday.
The Yankees trailed 4-0 after the first inning. CC Sabathia intentionally walked Sean Rodriguez which loaded the bases. Carlos Pena made him pay with a grand slam to clear the bases.
The Yankees then picked up two runs in the second inning and four runs in the third inning to take the lead. A Raul Ibanez ground out sent home Alex Rodriguez in the second and then Mark Teixeira got home from third when James Shields threw a wild pitch. Nick Swisher hit into a fielder's choice in the third inning to score Robinson Cano. Ibanez then hit a three-run homer to score A-Rod and Swisher. Ibanez only went 1-5 at the plate but provided 4 RBI for the team. A-Rod was 2-3 at the plate with 2 walks and 2 runs.
The Rays got one run back on an Evan Longoria solo homer in the bottom of the third. The Rays were down to their last three outs when they got the tying run against Mariano Rivera. Desmond Jennings hit a comeback single against Rivera and then Ben Zobrist promptly got Jennings home with a triple to deep right center field. The Yankees walked the next two batters. Pena drilled a pitch to deep left center field to end the game.
Sabbathia finished six innings. He allowed 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks and 2 home runs while striking out 7 batters. Rafael Soriano walked one and struck out one in one inning of work. David Robertson came into the game in the 8th inning. He struck out three batters and walked one. Rivera came on in the 9th inning to close out the contest but blew the save after two batters. Rivera took the loss and allowed three hits, two runs and two walks while only striking out one batter. All of the Yankees' runs came against James Shields who went five innings. Fernando Rodney, who pitched a scoreless 9th, picked up the win for Tampa Bay.
For more on the Yankees, check out the SB Nation blog Pinstripe Alley, while D-Rays Bay is all about the Rays.