BlackAmericans.com

On Wednesday, Jorge Posada was the designated hitter for the fourth time in five games, a reduced role that left him unsatisfied.

For the second time in three starts for his new team, Sidney Ponson pitched a gem for six innings, as the Yankees won their fourth in a row.

The Rays, the best current team in the American League, do not have a position starter in the All-Star Game and has just two players on the roster over all.

It looked so good on the season schedule — four straight dates in early July, BOS@NYY. Mark it down. Save the date. Be there. Why, then, did it feel so anticlimactic Thursday night?

When the Red Sox arrive at Yankee Stadium on Thursday to begin a four-game series, both teams will be chasing the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in first place.

For the fourth consecutive game, a Rays starter yet to celebrate a 27th birthday stymied the Yankees, and with Thursday’s loss New York dropped to last in the A.L. East.

Scott Kazmir sparkled in his first start since agreeing to a $28.5 million contract extension, and the surprising Tampa Bay Rays dropped the Yankees into last place.

The Yankees offense, which has scored only four runs in three games, did what it had to do to help Mike Mussina to a win in the fifth start in a row.

The Yankees’ offense slumbered for the second game in a row and the Tampa Bay Rays scored the first run off Mariano Rivera this season in an extra-innings victory on Tuesday.

During their first 10 seasons, the Tampa Bay Rays grew accustomed to serving as gracious hosts whenever they faced the Yankees or the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field. But that’s beginning to change.