NEW YORK -- It was a simple rundown -- a 90-foot baserunning drill in the
fifth inning involving Rangers catcher Gerald Laird and Yankees megastar Alex
Rodriguez.
Only this competition ended up with Laird sliding home safely past
Rodriguez's tag and A-Rod getting up looking stunned, with a scrape on his
chin.
While the run was just one of many for the Rangers as they handed the Yankees
their most lopsided loss of the season, 14-2, at Yankee Stadium on Thursday
afternoon, it proved to be a microcosm of what went wrong for the Yankees
throughout the day. The loss ended New York's win streak over Texas at eight
games, dating back to last season.
"A close game turned into a slaughter," explained Johnny Damon of Laird's
run, which made the score 2-1.
There was a bullpen meltdown, as Luis Vizcaino and Sean Henn combined to let
in seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings after the Yankees' relief corps had begun
to show improvement over the last week.
There was Chien-Ming Wang looking all too human, as he allowed seven runs of
his own in 6 1/3 innings after toying with perfection just five days ago.
Then there was the fly ball that Miguel Cairo lost in the sun in left field
for a ground-rule double, setting up an eventual pinch-hit grand slam by
Victor Diaz as the Rangers put up a seven-spot in the eighth inning.
When asked about the rundown and where fault lied, A-Rod gave a slight laugh
and flashed a smile as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea -- you saw it," said Rodriguez, heading for the exit as the
Yankees leave town for nine games on the road, starting with three in Seattle
this weekend and ending with a Subway Series at Shea Stadium next weekend.
"That was so long ago, 14-2."
The Yankees were quick to point to this being just one game, but they also
admitted that the botched play was a prime example of missed opportunities,
much like their recently completed homestand.
Thursday's loss prevented the Yankees from sweeping the Rangers and produced
a 4-3 homestand -- a seven-game set in the Bronx that many hoped would allow
the Yankees to gain some ground on the Red Sox, comfortably in first place in
the American League East.
Still, the Yankees are looking at the bigger picture -- because they have to.
"I'm comfortable with the way we're playing," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
"We can't worry about them as much as we have to continue to win eight out of
10 or 12 and continue to do those things. We have to pay attention to our
record and deal with the other stuff at the time you need to deal with it."
Yankees captain Derek Jeter, pointing to the club's 7-2 May record entering
Thursday's game, said: "We just didn't execute -- that's the bottom line. I'm
not worried about the record, because we've been playing good, and that's
what we want to continue. Yeah, we would like to go 7-0 every homestand we
play seven games, but it's not going to happen."
The Yankees simply didn't play well on Thursday. The Rangers broke the game
open with three runs in both the fifth and seventh innings, as the heart of
the Rangers' batting order -- especially Mark Teixeira (4-for-5, three
doubles and three RBIs) -- got to Wang and Co.
While Wang's sinker worked to perfection against Seattle last Saturday, when
he threw 7 1/3 perfect innings, it wasn't the same on Thursday.
"The last game, the sinker went down," Wang (1-3) said. "Today, it was more
flat."
That was the Rangers' plan, according to manager Ron Washington.
"We just tried to get him to get the ball up," Washington said. "I've been on
the other side when he's getting ground ball after ground ball after ground
ball. Today, we wanted to make him get the ball up. We had some good at-bats
and made him work."
Wang yielded seven runs on 11 hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings, striking
out two.
Vizcaino came in to relieve Wang in the troublesome seventh inning and
allowed another three runs on two hits and a pair of walks. Henn had the
tougher outing, though, surrendering the grand slam to Diaz and letting in
four runs while recording just two outs.
Just about the only highlight for the Yankees came from Melky Cabrera, who
cranked his first home run of the season in the third inning off Rangers
starter Brandon McCarthy (3-4). It was Cabrera's first homer since Aug. 10,
2006, also hit off McCarthy when the lanky right-hander was a member of the
Chicago White Sox.
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