So much for putting the pedal to the metal.

Phil Hughes turned in his third straight disappointing game, the pen wasn't much better and the Yanks made Tampa starter Andy Sonnanstine (3-9 coming in) look like a potential 20-game winner as the Devil Rays crushed the Bombers 9-1 at The Stadium.  The only positive from this one was that the Red Sox and Mariners also lost, so no damage done (I guess).

The Good:

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod picked up half of the Yankee hit total on Friday night -- one.  But his hit turned into a ribbie so he gets the nod over Derek Jeter (who went 1 for 3 and scored the lone Yankee run).  It was Rodriguez's 125 run batted in on the season.  A-Rod finished 1 for 3 with an RBI.

The Bad:

Phil Hughes.  The D-Rays jumped on the rookie early and never let up.  Hughes threw a ton of pitches and never had control of his curveball.  There also seemed to be a conference with Hughes in nearly every inning.  I'm not sure if it was to settle down the 21-year-old or if it was about pitch selection or what, but Posada, Guidry and even Jeter blazed three paths around the mound on Friday night.  It may be a bit unfair to expect Hughes to be as dominating as he was in the minors, but he shouldn't be this inconsistent.  Hughes fell to 2-3 with this: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 earned), 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.

The Ugly:

The greatest injustice in the history of the world.  That's what I said it would be if MLB suspended Joba Chamberlain for almost hitting Kevin Youkilis.  Well, the hammer fell on the Yankee rookie on Friday as he was fined an undisclosed amount and suspended for two games for his "inappropriate actions" on Thursday afternoon.  Freakin' unreal.  It makes me pine for the old days when take out slides were the norm, baseball players were hopped up on goof balls and inappropriate actions were settled between teams.  Chamberlain won't appeal the suspension and served the first game on Friday night.  The suspension will also put off the debate on whether Joba's 1+ inning of work on Thursday would have meant a one or two day lay-off.

The Yanks will have to dial up the intensity a notch if they want the sweep against the Red Sox to mean anything.  I'm sure Ian Kennedy won't have a problem getting up for his first big league start on Saturday afternoon.  The Rays will counter with hard-throwing Edwin Jackson.  Jackson has an ugly 4-12 record, but he has pitched well lately.  He was 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in August.  He also shutdown the Yanks on July 20 (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R).

Now let's turn the page on this unpleasant game and get back to work.