Bronx, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Though David Price fell just short of a history-making performance, his latest outstanding mound effort helped give the resurgent Tampa Bay Rays another win.
Price fanned nine New York batters over seven strong innings, while James Loney provided the difference in Tampa Bay's 2-1 decision over the Yankees with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
"Very sweet. David did a great job," said Loney. "We've been playing well lately."
Both Loney and Logan Forsythe went 2-for-4 with an RBI to help extend the Rays' win streak to four games and deal the sputtering Yankees an eighth loss in 10 outings, including four in a row.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi spoke about his team's struggling offense.
"These guys have proven track records and these are the guys that we have and these are the guys that have to get it done," he said. "No one has a magic potion. You just have to grind it out."
New York mustered a mere four hits and a run off Price (7-7), who entered Tuesday's matchup attempting to become only the fourth pitcher in MLB history to strike out 10 or more hitters in six straight appearances.
Price didn't allow a hit until Derek Jeter swatted a double to deep center to lead off the bottom of the fourth with the Yankees down 1-0. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a base hit and attempted to swipe second later in the inning, getting caught in a rundown in which Rays shortstop Ben Zobrist made a bad throw to enable Jeter to cross the plate.
Loney put the Rays back ahead in the sixth, however, launching a first-pitch curveball from Hiroki Kuroda into the New York bullpen.
The Yankees did mount a threat in their half of the frame, with Jeter reaching on a leadoff single and stealing second with none out. Price kept him there, however, getting two more punchouts to give the Tampa ace eight through six innings.
Price added another strikeout for the second out in the seventh, but Brett Gardner rolled a grounder to third on the lefty's final pitch to keep him at single digits.
Grant Balfour worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to finish off his 11th save of the season and hand Kuroda (5-6) another tough loss. The veteran righty scattered nine hits and struck out seven over eight effective innings.
Kuroda began the game by retiring nine of the first 11 hitters before giving up consecutive singles to Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria to begin the fourth inning. Loney then struck out, but Forsythe laced a sharp single up the middle to stake the Rays to a 1-0 edge.
Game Notes
Randy Johnson (five times), Pedro Martinez (three) and Nolan Ryan (twice) are the only pitchers to record six straight starts of 10-plus strikeouts ... Jeter's double was the 534th of his career, tying him with Lou Gehrig for the most in Yankees' history ... Price improved to 4-0 over his last five starts at Yankee Stadium ... The Yankees had been an MLB-best 40-9 this season when holding the opposition to four or less runs.
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