The Tampa Bay Rays fell to the New York Yankees 4-2 in New York Wednesday night and have now lost 8 in a row.  The game itself was overshadowed as the night belonged to Derek Jeter when he got his third hit in the 7th inning, which tied Lou Gehrig’s Yankees club record of 2,721 hits.  Gehrig held that record alone for over 70 years before Jeter tied him Wednesday.

The Rays are now 1-9 in September and blew a 2-0 lead in the 8th inning against the Yankees.  Jeff Niemann pitched seven strong innings for the Rays, allowing only one run on eight hits, with eight strikeouts and only one walk.  That was all forgotten when the Yankees rally started in the 8th when the Rays first basemen, Chris Richard, made a costly throwing error.  Nick Swisher was safe at first on the error, which allowed Alex Rodriguez to score and Jerry Hairston to move to third.  That is when Jorge Posada came up as a pinch hitter and drove everyone in with a 3-run homer off Lance Cormier, who got the loss.

Jeter has added to his long list of accomplishments with his record tying hit.  A name you never hear mentioned with steroid use, Jeter has become one of the best players of his generation.  Cooperstown has a spot waiting for Jeter.

The Tampa Bay Ray’s playoff hopes are pretty much dead as they felt the nail in the coffin with the recent news that their powerful slugging first baseman, Carlos Pena is out for the year.  Pena, who is leading the AL in home runs (39), was hit by a first inning fastball on Monday from the hard throwing Yankee C.C. Sabathia.  The pitch hit Pena in the left hand, breaking his middle and index fingers and will likely require surgery.  Umpires ruled that Pena swung, so he was not awarded first base, and on the next pitch Pena checked his swing and struck out.  The pain was very evident on Pena’s check swing, as he walked back to the dugout holding his hand gingerly and left the game soon after.

X-Rays showed obvious fractures in both fingers and Pena is now done for the 2009 season.  The Rays picked up first basemen Chris Richard’s contract from AAA Durham to replace Pena, however Richard has not seen any major league action since April of 2003 with the Colorado Rockies.  The Rays have now lost five in a row and their best power hitter, so you will not see Tampa Bay in the playoffs this year.

The Rays have designated 34-year old righty reliever Joe Nelson for assignment. They needed Nelson’s roster spot for newly acquired Sean Rodriguez. Nelson pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Rays this season and he was 3-0 with 3 saves, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Nelson’s lack of control (27 walks) and propensity to give up the long ball (7 homers) in only 40 1/3 innings this season were the main factors in the Rays jettisoning him.

UPDATE: Joe Nelson has surprisingly accepted a outright assignment to AAA instead of becoming a free agent.

The Los Angeles Angels have sent 25-year old righty swinging IF/OF Sean Rodriguez to the Rays to complete the Scott Kazmir trade. Rodriguez has played in 103 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 109 for 365 (.299 avg, 1.016 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 29 homers, 93 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has also played in 12 games for the Angels this season in which he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .716 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Rodriguez has played in 71 games in his major league career and he is 39 for 192 (.203 avg, .609 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 5 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has had problems making contact at the major league level with 62 strikeouts in his career. Part of the reason for all of the whiffing is the sporadic playing time he got with the Angels. Rodriguez has a lot of upside but it’s not clear where he would play for the Rays as he is a natural 2B.

38-year old switch hitting catcher Gregg Zaun has been hot with the bat since coming over from the Orioles in a earlier this month. He has played in 15 games for the Rays and he is 15 for 49 (.306 avg, .823 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Dioner Navarro has failed to respond to the challenge that Zaun is giving him which could result in him spending a lot of time on the pine.