Teixeira Makes First Error, and Rays Get by Yankees Steve Nesius/Reuters The Yankees" Chris Stewart tagging up to score in the seventh inning as Rays center fielder B. J. Upton prepared to throw home. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The struggle in the clubhouse to take blame for the defeat was almost as fierce as the competition on the field. There was Mark Teixeira, standing at his locker accepting responsibility for a costly error. A moment later Dave Robertson stood on the other side of the clubhouse, absolving Teixeira and demanding culpability for himself. There were others who might have chimed in as well. But in the end it was Teixeira's first error of the season Monday night that led to the decisive run as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Yankees, 4-3, at Tropicana Field. "It's very tough," Teixeira said. We should still be playing. We battled all night and we should still be playing right now if I made that play. Not so, said Robertson, who gave up a two-out double to Brooks Conrad in the seventh inning that preceded Teixeira's error and wiped away the Yankees" lead. "I feel like I flat-out blew the game today," Robertson said. I feel like that's not on Tex. He's made amazing plays behind us all year long, and he's done it for three years since he's been here. I still should have gotten Conrad out, and that falls on me today. On a night of miscues, Robertson was even inaccurate on Teixeira's résumé. Teixeira is in his fourth season with the Yankees, and has committed only 12 errors in 523 games at first base since joining the team. "I take a lot of pride in saving runs for our team," Teixeira said. But I gave one back tonight. On a night when Freddy Garcia gave the Yankees a solid performance in his return to the rotation, critical mistakes became the story as the Yankees lost for the third time in five games. The Yankees entered the seventh inning leading, 3-2, and got the first out. But then Sean Rodriguez drew a walk from Boone Logan and everything went haywire. Rodriguez went to second on a wild pitch, and one out later Robertson replaced Logan. Robertson fell behind Conrad with breaking balls that would not fall in the strike zone. Conrad then drilled a 3-1 fastball off the wall in the right-field corner to drive in Rodriguez and tie the score. Elliott Johnson followed with a sharp bouncer down the first-base line that might have skidded on its final bounce. Teixeira, playing the ball to his side as the umpire Sam Holbrook shuffled out of the way behind him, whiffed at the ball and stood frozen in disbelief as it bounded down the right-field line. Conrad scored and Johnson raced to third. Only a foul pop by Desmond Jennings saved the Yankees from more damage. "It was one of those where after it goes by you say, "What just happened?" " Teixeira said. I didn't even get leather on it. Usually you can knock it down if it takes a weird bounce. I tried to look at video, but I couldn't even tell what happened. Garcia, making his first start since April in place of the injured Andy Pettitte, allowed only two runs on solo home runs by B. J. Upton in the fourth and Carlos Pena in the sixth. He might have walked off the mound with a lead had Joe Girardi removed him one batter sooner. Garcia threw 69 pitches in five innings and took the mound in the sixth with a 2-1 lead. Girardi had the left-handed reliever Clay Rapada warming up and ready to go in order to face Pena in case the first batter, Jennings, got on base. Garcia got Jennings to ground out and Girardi elected to stay with him. Girardi noted that Garcia had done well against Pena in the past, and he said he liked the way he was throwing the ball - until he threw a backdoor slider that Pena crushed. "Freddy did a tremendous job," Girardi said. Unfortunately we weren't able to get more than three runs tonight. Raul Ibanez rejoined the team Monday with eight stitches in his swollen lower lip after three pieces of his tooth were removed from it after a freak accident in the dugout Sunday. Ibanez was injured while moving suddenly to avoid a foul ball; his face hit the metal part of a bench at the front of the dugout, he said. He chipped a tooth and the shards went into his lip. He also saw a neurologist to make sure he had not sustained a concussion. "I should have taken the ball," he said. Ibanez pinch-hit in the ninth inning Monday and grounded out. ... Chad Qualls, the right-handed reliever acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, made his Yankees debut in the eighth. He pitched two-thirds of an inning and struck out one. The Yankees sent Cory Wade to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room on the roster.