…when all of a sudden, the bullpen fell apart. Yeah, the Yanks had a nice 4-0 lead, beating Erik Bedard around pretty good. The game, like the one the night before, moved along at a tension-free, brisk pace for the Yanks until Hiroki Kuroda began to labor. He left the game with runners on base and the Yanks ahead by a run and even though they’d add another–to make it 5-3–things fell apart after that, and the Rays, who haven’t been scoring much, broke out.

When the dust cleared it was 11-5.

The lasting memory of this game was that of Cesar Cabral in the 8th. The kid couldn’t control his pitches, almost hit a couple of guys and then hit three. Joe West tossed him, not for intent I’d like to think, but to put the kid out of his misery. The Yanks DFA’d the poor bastard after the game, and you’d like to think he won’t have a worse night in his professional career.