Yankees-Rays: Xavier Nady Powers Bombers Past Rays

If the New York Yankees are going to have any chance of getting back into the wild-card race, they must continue hitting like they have the past two games. 

The Bombers opened their do-or-die, 10-game, four-city road trip by beating the Detroit Tigers 13-9 on Monday and downing the first place Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 on Tuesday. It's the first time they've scored seven or more runs in back-to-back games since Aug. 3.

Xavier Nady provided the big blow in Florida, launching a monster two-run homer off the catwalk to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning.

But what was more impressive was what preceded the blast. 

Down 1-0 to start the frame, Derek Jeter led off with an infield single. He then stole second and advanced to third on a flyball to center by Bobby Abreu. Jason Giambi followed with a sac fly, scoring the captain and tying the game.

That's the type of small ball and situational hitting that has eluded New York over the past five weeks, causing the team to fall seven games out of the playoffs.

Boston won again on Tuesday, so the Yankees remain seven back, but they did gain ground on Chicago and Minnesota, who both lost and now only lead New York by three games each.

If you want to remain really optimistic about the Bombers' chances, you could say that they don't need to pick up seven games on the Red Sox by Sept. 29, they just need to gain four by Sept. 26, when New York opens up a season-ending, three-game series at Fenway Park.

At least then the Yankees would control their own destiny, and that's pretty much all you can hope for at this point.

Here are the grades from the Pinstripes' 7-2 win over the Rays.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (A) A sac bunt, a steal, and a sacrifice fly all in the same game?  Better late than never I guess.

Johnny Damon, LF: (A) If not for Mike Mussina, Damon would be the team's MVP this season. He went 2-5 with an RBI triple and a run scored.

Derek Jeter, SS: (C+) The captain went 1-5 with an RBI groundout. He also stole and scored in that game-changing fourth inning.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (F) The hottest Yankee hitter of the second half was silenced on Tuesday, but his teammates picked up the slack.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A+) A-Rod tied Mike Schmidt for 12th on the all-time home run list with a solo shot in the eighth. It was his 30th of the year and 548th of his career. Rodriguez scored two more runs on Tuesday and was only retired on an outstanding play by Rays' center fielder B.J. Upton.

Jason Giambi, 1B: (A) Giambi doubled, picked up a sac fly, and was hit by a pitch.

Xavier Nady, LF: (A-) Nady's blast was huge, but he needs to become more authoritative in the outfield. He let another ball drop on Tuesday because he was too busy staring at Jeter in shallow left.

Hideki Matsui, DH: (C) Godzilla was 1-4 with an RBI single.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (C) Singled and scored in four at-bats.

Jose Molina, C: (C) Struck out three times but put down a nice sac bunt and hooked up with the Moose for another W.

Cody Ransom, PR-1B: (INC) Pinch ran for Giambi in the eighth and played first base for the final two innings.

Mike Mussina, SP: (A-) Mussina gave up too many hits (10), but he struck out eight and worked out of trouble enough times to pick up his 17th win of the year.

Damaso Marte, RP: (B) Surrendered a hit and struck out two in two-thirds of an inning.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (B-) It's absolutely ridiculous that the Yankees have decided to keep Chamberlain in the bullpen for the rest of the season. They haven't been mathematically eliminated yet, and they could really use the help in a rotation that currently includes Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner.

But Joba is babied more than any other pitcher in the history of the game, so he'll probably finish the season with only about 100 innings under his belt, which should make turning him into a full-fledged 200-inning ace next year very difficult.

Dan Giese, RP: (B+) Giese pitched a perfect ninth.

Yankees Overall Grade: (A) This was the best game they've played in a while. The Yankees pitched well, hit for power and even played small ball. 

New York needs to go 15-6 over its next 21 games and hope Boston goes 11-10 before the rivals meet in the last week of September.