• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kazmir, Rays shut down Yankees

May 16, 2008 - 12:26 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- While Ian Kennedy can't seem to figure it out, Scott Kazmir had it all working against the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon.

Kazmir tossed six scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays posted a 5-2 victory over Kennedy and the Yankees at Tropicana Field.

Shawn Riggans belted a two-run homer and Akinori Iwamura added a solo blast for the Rays, who took three of four games in the series.

"Today, he was effective," Riggans said about Kazmir. "Sometimes, you throw too many strikes and they get too good a swing off you. He was effectively wild, and that's not a bad thing. He made the pitches when it counted and all three of his pitches were working today."

Kazmir (2-1), who signed a four-year contract extension worth up to $39.5 million on Wednesday, allowed just three hits while striking out three and walking three. Three relievers bridged the gap to closer Troy Percival, who notched his 10th save.

"It's not too bad, but I'll take it," Kazmir said. "It seems like I'm fighting it just a little bit. The velocity is not where I want it, but it seems like it's something small in my delivery that I need to work on and have a little more success."

The 24-year-old lefthander, who was injured in an intrasquad contest prior to the season, now is staring to round into form in what amounts to a quasi-spring training for Tampa Bay's star hurler.

After a disappointing first outing, Kazmir tossed six scoreless frames for the second straight start - the first was a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Saturday.

"Obviously, we didn't hit him," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You look at Kazmir today, and he threw about five fastballs in a row, and we get one hit. That's not good. We're a better hitting club than this."

It wasn't as smooth for New York starter Kennedy (0-3), who returned to the team after being sent down to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He yielded five runs and five hits while striking out three and walking one in five frames.

The 23-year-old Kennedy, who was supposed to be a key cog in the Yankees' young rotation this season, has struggled to live up to the expectations.

"He did a nice job getting out of the third eliminating the damage with the bases loaded, giving up just one run," Girardi said. "But he had Hinske 1-2 and walked him and hangs a slider bad to Riggans. That's all with two outs. He was OK but he has to get better."

As a result, New York sent Kennedy down to the minors in an attempt to lift his confidence and repair his mechanics. The righthander pitched 8 1/3 scoreless frames in his lone start in the minors and hurled another scoreless inning in relief before being recalled.

But his problems in the majors returned immediately in this one thanks to Iwamura, who led off the game with a deep homer to right field.

Tampa Bay also put together a two-out rally in the fourth, which was started by Eric Hinske, who roped a double into the right-field corner. Riggans then followed with a soaring blast to left to make it 4-0.

"We've been playing well," Rays skipper Joe Maddon said. "We've not been making many mistakes. It was a great homestand and I like the way we're playing. When you get that kind of defense, you're not concerned about hitting the ball. We're working our butts off to get better."

The deficit seemed insurmountable for the struggling Yankees, who scored just six runs in the four-game set.

"It may be one of the few times I've come here and really didn't get it going," New York outfielder Johnny Damon said. "It starts with me and some of the guys followed my lead. You have to give them credit.

"They pitched very well, they hit their spots and we didn't draw too many walks. That's what we usually do to get teams in trouble."

After B.J. Upton's sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 5-0, New York got on the board in the seventh on run-scoring singles by Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter to provide the final margin.

Gary Glover and Trever Miller hurled the seventh and eighth, respectively, for the surprising Rays (23-17), who are in first place in the American League East - one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox (24-19).

Cabrera and Jeter each had two hits for the Yankees, who will return home to face the cross-town rival New York Mets in the first installment of the "Subway Series."