Yanks Tumble in Tampa

The Ghost of Summers Past haunted the New York Yankees last night, and his name was Dioner Navarro (pictured). Navarro, a Venezuelan catcher once considered to be the best prospect in the Yankees’ farm system before being traded for Randy Johnson in 2005, homered off Jeff Karstens in the bottom of 10th inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Devils Rays to an improbable [7-6 come-for-behind victory over New York].

The Yankees actually held a 5-0 lead, highlighted by Alex Rodriguez’s third-inning grand slam—his 53rd homer of the year and his 517th career moonshot. Later, however, Devil Ray Jorge Valendia matched A-Rod with his own grand slam—the first of his career—as the Devil Rays rallied thanks to wild Yankee pitching. New York pitchers walked 11 Devil Rays, and relievers Edwar Ramirez and Brian Bruney each allowed three runs in just one-third of an inning during a brutal sixth.

Navarro’s home run prevented the Yankees from clinching a playoff spot, since New York possesses a [four-and-a-half-game lead] over Detroit in the Wild Card race with just five games remaining. “Everybody wants to get it over with,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Everybody wants to move on to the next season, but we still have a little work to do. It just became a little bit longer to do and a little tougher to do because we let one get away from us.” The loss also dropped the Yanks three games behind Boston in the AL East.