A-Rod's record-setting April continues, but Yanks still fall

Apr 24, 2007, 3:35 GMT

St. Petersburg, FL - B.J. Upton homered in the fourth inning and hit a three-run double in the seventh for a career-high four RBI, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays overcame two more home runs by the unstoppable Alex Rodriguez and topped the New York Yankees, 10-8, in the opener of a brief two-game set at Tropicana Field.

Rodriguez now has 14 homers in his first 18 games, the first player in MLB history to do so. His 14-homer April ties the MLB record set by Albert Pujols last season. Rodriguez also leads the league in RBIs, with an incredible 34.

Rocco Baldelli also homered for Tampa, which came into this series after dropping two of three to Cleveland. Josh Paul ended 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and scored twice.

Casey Fossum (2-1), gave up six runs on 10 hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay.

'The offense was picking me up tonight,' Fossum said. 'The defense played great. They (the Yankees) scored a run off me every inning and we kept scoring.'

Robinson Cano also homered for New York, which came into this series after getting swept in a three-game weekend series by the Boston Red Sox. Jason Giambi went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the loss.

Coming off his first major league win in his previous start, rookie left- hander Kei Igawa (1-1) allowed seven runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings for the Yanks.

'He had no command,' New York manager Joe Torre said. 'He was missing his spots by a long way. You're certainly not going to have success when you don't throw enough strikes and you don't spot the ball.'

Holding a 7-6 lead, Tampa Bay blew the game open with the three-run seventh. Akinori Iwamura walked, and moved to third on an Elijah Dukes double, prompting Luis Vizcaino to replace Brian Bruney on the mound. Paul then walked, and Upton came through with the three-run double to left field.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the eighth with one out, but pinch-hitter Johnny Damon popped out and Melky Cabrera struck out swinging.

New York started to rally in the ninth, however. With Al Reyes on the mound, Bobby Abreu walked and Rodriguez followed with his second homer of the night, a two- run shot to left field on a 2-0 pitch. But, Giambi struck out swinging and Hideki Matsui, who prior to the game was activated off the 15-day disabled list, popped out for the game's final out.

New York plated a run in the second when Rodriguez sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left field, extending his hit streak to 23 games.

But, Tampa Bay responded with four runs in the home half. Iwamura and Dukes both walked, and Paul singled home a run. With two outs, Baldelli blasted a 1-0 pitch to left field for a 4-1 Rays lead heading into the third.

New York got another run in the third, as Josh Phelps lined a leadoff double, moved to third on a Cabrera sacrifice bunt, and came home on a sac fly by Derek Jeter.

The Yanks trimmed their deficit to 4-3 with a run in the fourth. Rodriguez and Giambi led off with singles, and Rodriguez scored on a Matsui sac fly. The Rays responded with a run in the home half, though, as Upton smacked a 2-2 pitch off the left-field foul pole.

New York plated a run in the fifth when Cano belted the inning's first pitch over the wall in center; but Tampa got two more runs in the bottom half. Delmon Young singled and scored on an Iwamura double, prompting Colter Bean to replace Igawa on the mound. He struck out Dukes, but Paul followed with an RBI single before Upton grounded out to cut the rally short.

The Yankees trimmed their deficit to 7-6 with a pair of runs in the sixth. Abreu lined a leadoff double, advanced to third on a single by Rodriguez, and crossed the plate on a Giambi base hit. Fossum retired the next two batters, but hit Cano with a pitch, which turned out to be his last. Gary Glover came on in relief, and walked Phelps with the bases loaded. He escaped the jam by getting Cabrera to ground into a force out.

Game Notes

Prior to the game, New York announced right- hander Philip Hughes, its top pitching prospect, will make his major league debut Thursday against Toronto. The club opened a roster spot by optioning pitcher Chase Wright to Double-A Trenton...Jeter's seventh-inning single extended his hitting streak to 14 games...The Yankees split a two-game series with the Devil Rays to open the season but are 14-7 in the last 21 meetings with them. New York also won six of nine in Tampa a year ago.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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