[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays were shut out for the second straight day by the score of 2-0 as they were blanked by Marquise Hines and the Mariners. Tim Johnson dropped to 1-5 through no fault of his own after going 6 2 2 2 4 6 as the bats only managed 6 hits.

Game 2: My kingdom for a run! The third-best offense in MLB was shut out for the third straight game as the Mariners did it to the Rays again, winning 8-0 after a scoreless affair into the 6th got out of hand with 7 Seattle runs. Dave Rose (11-6) started and was keeping the Rays in the game before he was suddenly unable to get the third out in the 6th and Seattle scored 3 times off him. He gave way to Julio Baez, who couldn't get anyone out himself, allowing 2 of Rose's men to score and 2 more of his own. Baez has now allowed 8 runs in 3 innings over his last 6 appearances and has become borderline unusable. Rose finished with an ugly 5.2 6 5 5 3 6 line as a result. The offense was a little better today, banging out 9 hits, but couldn't get anyone home in perhaps the longest team scoring drought I've had in this 36-season save.

Game 3: They scored! And boy did they ever, mauling the Mariners 10-4 although they had to come back and piled on late. Jose Lozada broke the 28-inning drought with an RBI double in the 2nd but they still trailed 4-2 after 4 as Melvin Lopez had some trouble at 4.1 8 4 4 2 3. But Lozada came through again with a game-tying 2-run homer (#10) in the 5th, and Dantel Chinchilla's 2-run single in the 7th put them up to stay as they rapped 18 hits as a team and came out of their funk in a big way. The bullpen was outstanding as well, allowing only 1 hit over the final 4 2/3 with Steve Cleland (3-2), having an excellent season, earning the win.

Team record: 59-39. The recent losing run has allowed the Yankees to creep within 2 games of the division lead. Next up: A day off and then they'll try to get going at home with 3 against Texas.