On the Yankees beat

Pregame chatter

Yankees (19-21) at Tampa Bay Rays (23-16), 7:10 p.m.

Starters: Mike Mussina (5-3, 4.36) for the Yankees and James Shields (4-2, 3.14) for the Rays.

Last starts: Shields pitched a one-hit shutout against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday. He struck out eight without walking a batter. Mussina has won his last four starts. He beat the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, allowing three runs and four hits in five innings.

Red-hot Rays: The first-place Rays try to extend their franchise-record home winning streak to 12 games tonight.

Be back after the first pitch.

Top of 1st: Shields retires the Yankees in order. Not sure I like Bobby Abreu batting second. Derek Jeter in the third spot is intriguing.

Bottom of 1st: Real nice diving stop of a Carl Crawford hard grounder down the first-base line by Jason Giambi. Perhaps Joe Girardi's pregame meeting did some good. Mussina sends the Rays down, 1-2-3.

Top of 2nd: Shields retired the first five batters, including a strikeout of Hideki Matsui on a backdoor slider. Robinson Cano bounced a groundball up the middle for a single. Melky Cabrera bounced a grounder to first baseman Carlos Pena. Pena tried to get Cano at second base, but he threw the ball into the leftfield, putting runners at second and third. Score that a fielder's choice and an error. Morgan Ensberg grounded out to shortstop. A missed opportunity for the Yankees.

Bottom of 2nd: Pena avoided the shift the Yankees were using on him, grounding the ball to where Morgan Ensberg, who was playing shortstop, should've been. A single for Pena. Evan Longoria grounded into a double play. Cliff Floyd - Yes, Cliff Floyd! - singled past Cano. Dioner Navarro hit a ball off the glove of Derek Jeter. Floyd tried to go to third base, but Cabrera threw him out. Great laser throw by Melky.

Top of 3rd: 1-2-3 inning for Shields, who ended the inning with a strikeout of Abreu.

Bottom of 3rd: Mussina counters with a 1-2-3 inning. He looked good that inning. Nice movement on his pitches, good command.

Top of 4th: Matsui gets a two-out double to left-center. Cano singles up the middle, his second hit of the game, to drive in Matsui. Yankees 1, Rays 0.

Bottom of 4th: Mussina got two quick outs, including a strikeout of Upton. Pena lined a single over Derek Jeter, playing behind second base, and into centerfield. But that was it. Still 1-0.

Top of 5th: Ensberg leads off with a single. Jose Molina sacrifices him to second. Shields got a big strikeout of Johnny Damon with his signature pitch - a changeup. Abreu blooped a double inside the leftfield foul line, scoring Ensberg. Shields struck out Jeter. Yankees 2, Rays 0.

Bottom of 5th: Again, two quick outs for Mussina. Gabe Gross doubled to deep left-center. Jason Bartlett grounded to Giambi, who made a diving stop and flipped to Mussina. Mussina just beat Bartlett, sliding head-first, to the bag.

Top of 6th: Another hit by Cano - a single to center. He's 3 for 3 tonight. Only eight pitches thrown by Shields that inning. We're still 2-0, Yanks.

Bottom of 6th: Nice, quick inning for Mussina. He's giving the Yankees exactly what they needed tonight - 7 or more innings.

Top of 7th: Ensberg draws a leadoff walk. Molina again sacrifices Ensberg to second base. Damons grounds out, 5-3. Abreu also grounded out.

Bottom of 7th: Longoria drew a one-out walk. That was it for Mussina, who pitched very well. Cliff Floyd followed with a single against the new pitcher - Ross Ohlendorf. Dioner Navarro singles to center to score Longoria. But Gross lined to Jeter, who flipped to Cano to double off Floyd. Very big play to get out of the jam. Line on Mussina: 6.1 innings, five hits, one earned run, four strikeouts and one walk. Yankees 2, Rays 1.

Top of 8th: Giambi drew a one-out walk and that was all for Shields. Trever Miller relieved and got Matsui to ground into a double play.

Bottom of 8th: Joba is in. He started by striking out Bartlett. Iwamura got a one-out walk, with Joba missing on a 3-2 slider. Joba struck out Crawford and then struck out Upton on a high fastball. We move to the ninth!

Top of 9th: Cano singles to right. He's 4 for 4 tonight. But a strike'em-out, throw'em-out double play leaves the bases empty. Al Reyes is coming in to face Ensberg. Ensberg flies to right. Time to go to Mo.

Bottom of 9th: Cano, playing in short rightfield for the Pena shift, is able to track down Pena's bloop to short center. Longoria goes down swinging. Floyd grounds out to Jeter, 6-3. The Rays' home winning streak, which dates back to April 15, is over. FINAL: Yankees 2, Rays 1.