A-Rod loses stolen base to umpire interference as Yankees end nine-game slide at the Trop

Alex Rodriguez lost a stolen base on Wednesday night after his safe steal was overturned because of "umpire interference" when the home-plate umpire got smacked in the face by Tampa Bay catcher Jose Lobaton.  Replays showed the catcher actually backed into the ump and knocked the mask off his face.

The lousy seventh-inning call came at a crucial time for the Yankees after Rays starter David Price had stifled the New York bats in a tense game tied at 1-1.

The steal would have put A-Rod on third with one out.  Instead, Andruw Jones popped up after the umpire's ruling leaving A-Rod still at second with two outs.

The 36-year old A-Rod did get his seventh steal of the season after Jones' out.  But it was too late.  Another out ended the inning, killing a possible rally and it looked like the Yankees would make it 10 straight losses at Tropicana Field.

But these are the New York Yankees.

After the Rays tacked on a couple more runs to make it 3-1, the Yankees got to say hello to an old friend, and ex-Yankee, Kyle Farnsworth.  Old Farnsy walked Eric Chavez, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Rodriguez in the eighth-inning to slice the Yankees' deficit to one run.

Robinson Cano's two-run single then lifted the Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Rays— putting an end to the year-long drought at the Trop.

The Yankees head into Boston after an off-day to face the Red Sox this weekend.