The Yankees made a dent in the AL East standings by sweeping the Rays in a two game set, with yesterday's final game requiring extra innings before New York came away with a 2-1 win.

After Sidney Ponson threw 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth each collected 1-2-3 innings, keeping the game tied at 1 in the seventh and eighth innings. In the top of the ninth, Mariano entered to face the 5, 6 and 7 hitters. Outside of a walk, he was flawless; striking out two batters.

The Yankees threatened in the ninth, but came away empty and, as such, the game headed to a 10th inning. Mo came back out for a second inning of work - now marking two straight appearances where he had been called on to pitch more than one inning. You run out of superlatives here, though. Mo set down the 8, 9 and 1 hitters in order, striking out another 2 batters.

In the bottom of the 10th, Derek Jeter walked and Bobby Abreu drove him home with a walk off double to win the game. This allowed Mo to earn his 4th win of the season, while pulling his ERA down to 1.06.

For the night, his line was 2 innings, 0 hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. It capped off an awesome day for the Yankees pitching staff as a whole, where they held the first place Rays to 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks over 10 innings, while striking out 11. The bullpen was especially dominant, holding Tampa Bay hitless over the final four innings.

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