Yankees' Rally Falls Short

After the Yankees' bullpen stumbled in the top of the 9th, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays to score 4 times and giving them a 9-5 lead, the Yankees offense mounted a comeback in the bottom of the inning...Derek Jeter singled to open the frame...then, Johnny Damon followed with a double, and Mark Teixeira drove them both in with a double...

But that's where the rally would end, as Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano were retired in order...

The Yanks drop the first game in the series with the Rays 9-7...

Additional Notes:

CC Sabathia really only had one bad stretch--the 5th & 6th, in which he gave up all 5 runs, only 4 of which were earned...in total, those were the only earned runs over 8 innings of work...

Mariano Rivera couldn't hold the tie in the 9th...in just 2/3 of an inning he allowed 3 runs...

Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira had a home run each...

Tomorrow Joba Chamberlain takes the hill...

ESPN.com has Saturday's box score and video highlights: