Yanks put a spin on another bad loss
Friday, May 11, 2007
BY ED PRICE
Star-Ledger Staff
NEW YORK --
The Yankees headed for Seattle yesterday talking about how well they
have been playing.
Which is nice, except for a couple of things. They had just lost 14-2 to
the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium, meaning they went a middling 4-3 on
the homestand.
And for all the optimism, fueled by the Roger Clemens signing and some
better outings from starting pitchers, the Yankees were seven games out
of first place.
"I thought we played well at home," said Derek Jeter, who was 12-for-27
(.444) on the homestand. "A couple of games got away from us. I'm not
worried about (the 4-3 record). I think we've been playing good. That's
what we want to continue."
With ace Chien-Ming Wang facing Brandon McCarthy, who came in sporting
a 7.96 ERA and .309 opponents' batting-average against, the Yankees
were favored to complete a season-series sweep of the Rangers.
But bad outings from Wang and the bullpen and a key botched rundown
play led to the Yankees' worst loss since July 29 of last year,
a 19-6 debacle against the Devil Rays.
"It's easy to shake off because we know we're better than this," manager
Joe Torre said. "We played better than (4-3). Yeah, there's no question
we need to win more games. But I'm a lot more comfortable with the way
we're playing now."
But Torre couldn't have been comfortable with what transpired in the
fifth inning of a 1-1 game.
Rangers catcher Gerald Laird led off with a triple when Bobby Abreu
shied from the fence. One out later, Brad Wilkerson hit a grounder to
Alex Rodriguez at third, who threw to catcher Jorge Posada as Laird broke
for home.
Not only was the return throw to Rodriguez too early, but -- with Wang
ready to receive a throw at home plate -- Rodriguez instead pump-faked
and tried to catch up to Laird. But his diving tag was too late as Laird
scored.
"(Rodriguez) called for it and I gave it to him," Posada said. "That's
the way it is."
Said Torre: "(Posada) has got to get the guy moving (back to third).
And Alex, where he was, probably should have given the ball up. We did
it wrong, let's put it that way. I don't need to point a finger at
anybody. We just screwed it up."
Rodriguez claimed he had "no idea" how the play went wrong.
"I thought I was faster than I was," he joked.
That helped turn the inning into a three-run rally, and the Rangers
cruised from there as McCarthy (3-4) held the Yankees to one run on
five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
In his first start since taking a perfect game into the eighth inning
last Saturday, Wang (1-3) was roughed up for seven runs -- matching
his career high -- on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
"He pitched well enough to get a win in this game," Torre said, "but we
didn't hit and we didn't execute. He was the victim, so to speak."
Wang got two double-play balls and 10 other groundball outs but also
allowed double-digit hits for the fifth time in his career. The only
other time he was charged with seven earned runs was May 22, 2006,
at Boston.
"Just one of those days everything was up in the zone," Posada said.
Luis Vizcaino and Sean Henn combined to give up seven more runs in the
eighth inning. The Rangers -- who had managed just 10 total runs in
losing their other five games against the Yankees -- set season highs
in runs and hits (16).
Henn's spotty outing could open the door for the return of Ron Villone,
who is pitching well in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and can become
a free agent if he isn't recalled by Tuesday.
Henn, clearly rattled by his recent struggles, allowed a pinch-hit
grand slam by former Met Victor Diaz, raising his ERA to 5.19
(16.20 since April 26).
"I'm just trying to get it over that white thing 60 feet away from me,"
Henn said.
Since pitching eight times in the first 13 days of the season,
Vizcaino has given up 16 hits and walked nine in 9 2/3 innings,
with a 13.03 ERA over 11 appearances.
"He's not consistent enough with his command," Torre said.
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