Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 4, NY Yankees 3
When: 7:05 PM ET, Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Temperature: 70°
Umpires: Home - Victor Carapazza, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Marcus Pattillo, 3B - Angel Hernandez
Attendance: 31188

Rays 4, Yankees 3:
James Loney homered among three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Tampa Bay beat New York at Yankee Stadium for the fifth straight time.

Ben Zobrist recorded two hits and an RBI while Kevin Kiermaier and Ryan Hanigan each had two hits and scored a run to help the Rays dent the Yankees' playoff chances. Chris Archer (9-8) yielded three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings to improve to 5-0 in six career starts versus New York.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and Chris Young added a two-run single for the Yankees, who dropped 5 1/2 games back in the race for the American League's second wild card. Hiroki Kuroda (10-9) was roughed up for four runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings as his three-game winning streak came to an end.

After Loney homered to lead off the second, the Rays bunched four singles in the third - including back-to-back RBI hits by Evan Longoria and Loney that created a 3-0 advantage. Tampa Bay registered three straight hits in the fourth, the final one by Zobrist driving in Kiermaier and chasing Kuroda in favor of reliever David Huff.

Ellsbury started New York's comeback attempt with a leadoff blast in the fourth and the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth before Young delivered a two-run single, but Rays left fielder Matt Joyce threw out Stephen Drew at the plate to preserve the one-run lead. Tampa Bay relievers Grant Balfour and Brad Boxberger set down all five batters they faced before Jake McGee worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ellsbury became the fourth Yankee to hit at least 15 homers and five triples and steal at least 35 bases in a season, joining Alfonso Soriano (2003), Rickey Henderson (1985-86) and Ben Chapman (1931). ... Loney's three hits boosted his average to .382 in 13 games against New York this season. ... The Yankees challenged the call at the plate on Drew in the fifth, contending Rays C Hanigan blocked the path of the runner, but the call was upheld by video review.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   NY Yankees
Chris Archer Player Hiroki Kuroda
Win W/L Loss
6.1 IP 3.1
3 Strikeouts 5
7 Hits 9
4.26 ERA 10.80
Hitting
Tampa Bay   NY Yankees
James Loney Player Ichiro Suzuki
3 Hits 2
2 RBI 0
1 HR 0
6 TB 2
.750 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 11 1 15 .306 21 11 4 2 1 0
NY Yankees 7 1 10 .226 5 5 3 0 1 0