ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Mariano Rivera took the blame for a rare blown save.
Carlos Pena hit an early grand slam off CC Sabathia, then completed a ninth-inning comeback with an RBI single off the Yankees closer that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a season-opening 7-6 victory Friday.
“My fault,” Rivera said. “I felt good. I don’t make excuses. I just left the ball up.”
Rivera (0-1) had been 60 of 61 in save chances against the Rays. But after Desmond Jennings opened the ninth with a single against baseball’s career saves leader, Ben Zobrist tripled home the tying run.
Rivera intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases and struck out Sean Rodriguez. Pena, who was 0 for 11 lifetime against Rivera, won it by driving a 1-2 pitch off the base of the wall in left-center field for his fifth RBI of the game.
“It’s bad,” Rivera said of the Yankees’ opening-day defeat. “You don’t want to start that way, but at the same time, it’s only one game.”
Rivera had gone 44 for 49 on save tries last year.
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Pena, making his return to the Rays after a year away with the Chicago Cubs, hit his slam in the first. Evan Longoria hit a solo homer in the Rays third, and it stayed 6-5 until the ninth.
“When you see him blow one, it’s shocking,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s going to happen. It happened. It’s baseball.”
Rivera’s other blown save against Tampa Bay came on Aug. 16, 2005.
Sabathia yielded both of Tampa Bay’s homers, but later worked out of a couple of tight spots to cling to the lead the defending AL East champions took on newcomer Raul Ibanez’s three-run homer in the third.
Reliever David Robertson escaped a jam in the eighth inning, striking out Stephen Vogt, Jose Molina and Matt Joyce with runners at the corners, seemingly setting up Rivera to close it out.
Fernando Rodney (1-0) struck out one in a perfect ninth to earn the win in his debut for Tampa Bay.
The Rays, who’ve made the playoffs three of the past four years, raised a 2011 AL wild-card banner to the left-field catwalk before the game and Pena brought the sellout crowd of 34,078 to its feet again in the bottom of the first when he sent a 3-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his eighth career grand slam.
Tampa Bay’s career home run leader entered the day 4-for-35 with two homers and 19 strikeouts lifetime against Sabathia, who walked Rodriguez intentionally — the fourth intentional pass of the young shortstop’s career — to get to Pena.
“It was the right move,” Sabathia said. “If I make the pitches, then we have nothing to talk about.”
The Yankees battled back with two runs in the second and four more in the fourth, when Ibanez’s put them ahead 6-4. The offseason free agent acquisition was 0 for 12 against Rays starter James Shields, including a grounder to second base that drove in the first run, before getting his first hit for his new team.
Shields allowed six runs and nine hits, walked three and struck out three in five innings. The right-hander, who set Rays records for complete games (11) and shutouts (4) while becoming a first-time All-Star in 2011, also hit a batter and unleashed a wild pitch that allowed a run to score in the second.
Sabathia, a 19-game winner a year ago, wasn’t sharp, either. The lefty struck out Pena twice to help himself through jams in the third and fifth innings but wound up throwing 104 pitches in six innings. The Yankees ace allowed five runs and eight hits, walked three and struck out seven.
“Fastball command, got better later,” Sabathia said. “So, I can take something from that.”
Alex Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with a pair of walks and scored two runs for the Yankees. He’s hit safely in all eight opening day games he’s played for the Yankees.
The Yankees went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 men on base.
“We did have a couple opportunties to get it done, but tomorrow is a new day,” Ibanez said.
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Some of the Yankees sported T-shirts in the clubhouse before the game with the slogans “Yankees 1” accompanied by a degree sign on the front and “Mind Heart Guts” on the back. ... With Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth beginning the season on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon plans to fill his role by committee. RHPs Joel Peralta and Rodney are among the candidates to get much of the work. ... Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte is scheduled to face Philadelphia Phillies minor leaguers in extended spring training on Monday, his second game action since ending a one-year retirement. Meanwhile, RHP Michael Pineda, who’s on the disabled list because of right shoulder tendinitis, played catch Friday for the second straight day. ... Looking to give his starters a regular break from playing in the field this season, Girardi is expected to have Rodriguez or Derek Jeter DH on Saturday.
Mariano Rivera, Rivera, CC Sabathia, Sabathia, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay, the Rays, Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees, Sean Rodriguez, Rays, Rays, ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Tampa
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