Just a day after turning a 10-2 defecit into a 20-11 roasting, the Yankees bats were cooled off this afternoon as they were defeated by Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays 5-3. Gary Sheffield launched a two-run homer in the first inning (his 3rd in two days), but that was pretty much all the offense the Yankees got save an RBI groundout by Robinson Cano in the 5th. Carl Pavano looked solid through 6 and 2/3 until he gave up a three-run shot to Nick Green which put the Devil Rays up for good. The Yankees are now a Major League-worst 0-25 when scoring three runs or less.

I don't think tonight's game was as much a failure of the Yankees' offense as it was a great performance by Scott Kazmir. Although this is his first full year in the Majors and he is very young, he is still one of the toughest pitchers to hit in the league if he brings his "A" game. He hasn't been totally consistent so far, but when he is on he is almost lights out.

As for Pavano, I was watching "Mike and the Mad Dog" on the YES Network a couple hours after the game and they were saying they don't understand how people can say that if he hadn't given up the home run to Nick Green you could call it a good start. They do make a point because when you look at the line score you see the 5 earned runs and the two homers and 6 hits in just over 6 innings. However, I do think he was pretty solid throughout most of the game. Take away the three-run homer and his line score is 7 innings and 2 runs on 4 hits. I really couldn't argue either way. The fact of the matter is that he did give up the home run and that is just as much a part of the game as everything that happened in the 6.2 innings before the home run. So I guess what I'll call it is a mediocre to forgettable outing although this one start alone is nothing to worry about.

Tomorrow evening the Yankees will send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound to face the D-Rays' Mark Hendrickson before finishing up the homestand with a weekend series against the Mets. I think tomorrow's game is critical especially considering that the Red Sox keep winning now and have closed the gap on the O's to one game, and it would really be a blow to what the Yankees have accomplished so far on this homestand if they lose 3 out of 4 to Tampa Bay at the Stadium.