Ponson the answer? Rays swept

With the 10-inning, 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees managed to sweep the current leaders of AL EAST. Joe Girardi sat behind his desk, sporting a fake mustache, and it certainly helped as Jason Giambi singled to drive in a run in the first inning.

The win puts the Yanks 6.5 games behind the Rays in the division standings.

This was a typical pitchers’ duel between journeyman Sidney Ponson and Rays No.5 starter Edwin Jackson. The pitchers both gave up just one run each, but Ponson left earlier than Jackson. However, Ponson’s performance was great, striking out four and walking two over 6 innings. New York has won all 3 of Ponson’s starts since he was cut by the Texas Rangers earlier in the season. Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Veras combined for scoreless innings after Ponson left the game.

With the game tied 1-1, after a RBI single from Giambi and a solo homer from Rays slugger Carlos Pena, Bobby Abreu turned out to be the lone game-changer. Abreu fouled off four straight fastballs delivered from Grant Balfour in the 10th inning, then lined a pitch straight into the center-right gap, doubling home Derek Jeter for the walk-off hit. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera later dumped Gatorade all over him.

Are the young Rays starting to lose their power? With this loss, Tampa Bay has lost 3 in a row, and dropped to 2-28 (.071) during their losing streak. Will they continue to dominate or drop?

And, with a four-game winning streak going on, the Yanks look to start another second-half surge like last year, when they went 39-26 to get a slot in the playoffs. Maybe they can.

All in all, a great day.