That was unexpected.

The Yanks raced out to a 5-0 lead on the strength of an Alex Rodriguez grand slam, but the Devil Rays scored six runs in the sixth and one in the tenth and shocked the Bombers 7-6 on a Tuesday night in Tampa.  Kei Igawa made an emergency start for Roger Clemens and tap-danced his way through five scoreless innings, but the bullpen couldn't hold it as the Yanks blew an opportunity to nail down a playoff berth.

I could really go into a full lamentation here, but instead I'm going to turn the page.  Let's get this ugliness over with.

The Good:

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod blasted a grand salami in the third inning to give the Yanks (what I thought was) a comfortable 5-0 advantage.  Rodriguez hit his dinger off the catwalk -- yeah, off the catwalk.  Dig this: Rodriguez has 53 homers and 151 RBIs on the season.  But his Tuesday night heroics just weren't enough.  A-Rod finished 1 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and 4 RBIs.

Johnny Damon.  Johnny D had himself a corker of a ballgame.  It's been said before, but I'll say it again -- when Damon is on, the Yankee lineup is nearly unstoppable.  Nearly.  Again, too bad his performance wasn't enough to help the Yanks clinch a playoff spot.  Damon finished 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.

The Bad:

Brian Bruney.  Bruney came into the game to put out a mini fire and turned it into a raging inferno.  The Maltese Falcon gave up a game-winning homer in his last outing against Toronto and followed that performance up by giving up a grand slam in the sixth that gave Tampa a 6-5 lead.  Bruney is kidding himself if he thinks he has a chance to make it onto the Yankees post-season roster.  I would be totally shocked if he does.  I would also be shocked if he's on the Yankee roster next year.  Bruney's gruesome totals: .1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 back-breaking HR.

Edwar Ramirez.  Ramirez got the meltdown started in the sixth.  He walked the leadoff batter and after recording a pop out, gave up an RBI-double and another walk.  Exit Ramirez.  Edwar has been terrible lately (9.39 ERA in September, heading into Tuesday night's game) and has given up at least one run in his last five appearances.  Unacceptable.  Ramirez's ghastly night: .1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 0 K.

Jeff Karstens.  Karstens completed the heartbreaking night by giving up the game-winning homer in the tenth.  It was only Karstens' second appearance since being recalled from Scranton on Sept. 9, but that's no excuse for grooving a 2-0 fastball right over the plate.  Karstens' tough season just got a bit tougher.  He fell to 1-4 with this three pitch night: 0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 game-ending HR.

The Ugly:

Shutting down.  Roger Clemens was scratched again on Tuesday night.  The Yankee announced that The Rocket's regular season is over.  On the one hand, it's better to be cautious with Clemens' health, but on the other, it has to make you question whether the Yanks can count on him in the post-season.  Roger says he's confident he'll be ready for October, but one never knows.

OK, OK, let's flip the page.  Chien-Ming Wang goes for the Yanks on Wednesday night and will be gunning for win number 19 on the season.  The D-Rays will send out lefty J.P. Howell (1-5, 6.80 ERA).

We're through the looking glass here, people.

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