Yanks Fall to Rangers, 3-2

     A night after the Yankees were blown out in Arlington, they sent C.C. Sabathia to the mound to try to take the rubber game of the three game series. The Rangers send lefty Martin Perez to the mound to oppose New York, bringing along with him his 11/13 strike out to walk ratio. Texas has lost all four starts made by the Venezuelan this season. If the Pinstripers were to win their second consecutive series, they would need to continue Perez's dubious streak of losses. and, would need a quality outing by their big left-hander.
    Both southpaws cruised through the first inning. In the top of the second, Starlin Castro finally got a hit with two outs and a runner in scoring position, something that has eluded the Yanks altogether too frequently the season. Castro lined a single into left, scoring Teixeira from third, 1-0. However, Texas would quickly answer in the bottom of the inning. After Sabathia allowed base hits to Ryan Rua and Rougned Odor, first baseman Hanser Alberto squibbed the ball back to the mound, where C.C. threw over to first while Rua broke for the plate and scored from third. Ultimately, the inning would be over when catcher Brian McCann threw out Odor attempting to take third. Then, in the bottom of the third,  Sabathia led off the inning walking Brian Holiday, who eventually scored on a two-out base hit by slugger Adrian Beltre, pushing the score to 2-1, Rangers.
     In the fourth, amidst a chorus of boos, Alex Rodriguez hit only the fourth homerun off a left-handed pitcher by a Yankee this season, sending the ball into the left field stands, tying the game at two. On the other side of the ball, the bugaboo for C.C. Sabathia all season has been his inability to get through the line up a third time. Tonight, in the sixth, going through the lineup for the third time, Sabathia walked the sixth hitter in the lineup, Odor, and then gave up yet another two-out RBI hit, this time a triple, off the bat of shortstop Elvis Andrus, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead, where it would stay the rest of the night. All told, Sabathia did end up with a quality start, throwing six innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out five. However, the inability of the Yankees to put together a big inning, or even to score more than two runs, made Sabathia's outing all for not.
     One of a few positives that can be taken away from tonight's game is that Alex Rodriguez end of the night with three hits, including a homerun. Having began the series with an injury, hopefully tonight's performance is a preview of things to come for the 40-year-old. Another positive to be taken away from tonight is that the bullpen continues to pitch exceptionally well, allowing zero runs yet again.
     New York is off tomorrow night, but will begin a very important series in Fenway, against our rival Red Sox, beginning on Friday at 7:05 PM ET.