Yanks Make It 0-for-4 Against Boston

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	1	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	0		6	11	0
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0		4	9	2

I don't usually start my game summaries this way, but here's something that Dan Graziano wrote after last night's loss that I think is pretty fitting. It comes from an article titled, "Yankees Are Now Red Sox Wannabes."

It still seems weird, if you can remember back before it all changed -- back before "Cowboy Up" and Aaron Boone and the Idiots and the Bloody Sock and all that went down between the Yankees and the Red Sox right around the middle part of this decade. If you can remember back that far, it feels weird that the Red Sox have become the model franchise and the Yankees are just yapping at their heels, trying their best to become everything their rivals already are.

But then you watch a game like the one they played Monday night at Yankee Stadium and you realize that's exactly what's going on here. The Yankees spent the night whining about the umpires, accusing the Sox of stealing signs, committing errors and passed balls and walking everybody in sight. The Red Sox spent it winning the game. And as they so often do these days, they outclassed the Yankees in almost every possible way.

Can you disagree with anything he said? I can't. And it's embarrassing.

Regarding the strike zone, I was at the game so I couldn't see the balls and strikes so clearly, but after looking at MLB.com's Gameday I admit that home plate umpire Jerry Meals was god awful, his strike zone was either moving, or it was just extremely large for Lester and the Red Sox pitchers, and at the same time he was squeezing Phil Hughes. The Sox were getting calls on the corners and Hughes wasn't. While that is clearly unfair, the Yankees still need to go out there and win the damn game. Complaining about the umps is for losers. Is that what the Yankees have become?

Anyway, I'm assuming we all know what happened last night. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and was less than impressive. Although you can throw a little bit of blame on home plate umpire Jerry Meals, but we already went over that above. Hughes lasted just four innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits, four walks, and he struck out two. He had problems with command all night, walked too many, and threw way too many pitches. In those four innings he threw 94 pitches and just 56 of them were strikes. Boston has a very good lineup and it's tough for any pitcher to handle it, but Hughes is going to have to throw strikes if he wants to be an effective pitcher in this league.

Sox starter Jon Lester dominated the Yankees once again. The only runs he allowed all game in the 5th. Johnny Damon hit a two-run home run which was followed by a Mark Teixeira solo homer. In seven innings Lester allowed those three runs on six hits, walk two and struck out ten.

After the Yanks had cut the lead to one, Alfredo Aceves came into the game. He pitched very well over 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walked two, and struck out seven. The two runs he allowed came on a two-run homer by Jason Bay, and those runs turned out to be very important.

The Yankees scored their fourth run on a second homer from Teixeira, a solo shot in the seventh off Ramon Ramirez. They also had chances in the bottom of the 8th and 9th to tie and/or win the game but failed both times against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. In the eighth they had runners on first and second with two out, but Papelbon was able to get Jose Molina to pop out to short. And in the ninth the Yankees had two on an nobody out, and bases loaded with two out, but failed to get the tying runs in. In my opinion the biggest out of the ninth was Damon's fly out with runners on first and second and nobody out. This was a perfect time for Damon to bunt, there is nothing wrong with playing for the tie at home. The Yankees chose not to and suffered for it. I'm not sure who was calling the shots because Joe Girardi had been thrown out of the game four innings earlier for arguing ball and strikes, regardless, I think they should have bunted.

Following a Teixeira strike out and a walk to Nick Swisher the Yankees had them loaded for Robinson Cano. But once again the Yankees fell one hit short as Papelbon struck out Cano on a 95 MPH fastball to end the game.

About Teixeira, yes hit two homers on the night, which is great. And it looks like he's getting his swing back. However, when the game was on the line with two men on and one out in a two run game in the bottom of the ninth he struck out swinging. Remind you of anyone?

In other bad news Jorge Posada left the game after feeling his right hamstring "grab" after sliding into second. He will go for an MRI later today. Hopefully this isn't a major injury, because if they lose Jorge for an extended period of time they're going to be in trouble.

Besides being thrown out of the game, Girardi got into an argument with Red Sox first base coach Tim Bogar. Apparently Girardi thought Bogar was stealing signs, and according to Peter Abraham, he told Bogar that he was "going to get somebody hurt," which indicated that the Yankees would drill a hitter as payback. J.D. Drew did get hit a few innings later, but I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the argument.

Now the Yankees turn to another youngster, this time it's 23-year-old Joba Chamberlain to try and finally put one in the win column against Boston. He will be facing Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	.274
Damon, LF	5	1	1	2	0	1	3	.272
Teixeira, 1B	5	2	2	2	0	2	3	.195
Swisher, RF	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	.300
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	1	2	4	.349
Posada, DH	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	.312
a-Matsui, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.284
Cabrera, M, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	4	.317
Molina, J, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	5	.257
Berroa, 3B	3	1	0	0	0	2	1	.167
b-Gardner, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.234
Totals	36	4	9	4	4	13	22
a-Struck out for Posada in the 8th. b-Singled for Berroa in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Damon (5, 5th inning off Lester, 1 on, 2 out), Teixeira 2 (5, 5th inning off Lester, 0 on, 2 out; 8th inning off Ramirez, R, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter; Damon 4; Teixeira 8; Posada 2; Cabrera, M; Molina, J; Gardner. RBI: Damon 2 (12), Teixeira 2 (12). 2-out RBI: Damon 2; Teixeira. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Molina, J 3; Cano 2. Team RISP: 0-for-7. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Jeter (6, 2nd base off Papelbon/Varitek), Gardner (6, 3rd base off Papelbon/Varitek). FIELDING E: Jeter (2, throw), Molina, J (1, throw). PB: Molina, J (2). DP: 2 (Berroa-Cano-Teixeira, Berroa-Teixeira).

RED SOX OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes, P (L, 1-1)	4.0	7	4	3	4	2	1	2.70
Aceves, A	4.1	4	2	2	2	7	1	4.15
Ramirez, E	0.1	0	0	0	2	1	0	5.23
Coke	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.60

RED SOX PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jon Lester (W, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Jason Bay (3-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, R)

TOMORROW'S GAME

Yankees vs. Red Sox @ New Yankee Stadium
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
Joba Chamberlain RHP (1-0, 3.13 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett RHP (2-2, 7.22 ERA)