(AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Texas « | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
Last night in Texas was another brutal night for the Yankees as they fell 7-6 to the Rangers. Most shocking since the Rangers scored two in the 9th off Mariano Rivera, the final on a hit-by-pitch of all things, to send the Yanks back to their hotel as losers once again.
Now I'm starting to know how the Twins felt last year when the Yankees walked-off against them for a weekend.
Sorry to be blunt, but this team is playing like shit right now, and their 5th loss in 6 attempts, combined with Tampa's win over Toronto, puts the Yanks just a half-game up in the division. And with Cliff Lee going against Dustin Moseley tomorrow, a sweep looks like it's in the cards, so there's a good chance they head to Tampa on Monday in second place. Luckily for the Yankees, the Red Sox and White Sox are both awful and remain 9 games behind.
You can blame the loss on many things; the bullpen, Mariano specifically, Joe Girardi and his array of dumbfounding moves, but in the end I think this one, like yesterday, came down to the Yankees wasting nearly every chance they had to score runs. On Friday, the Yankees went 3-for-17 with RISP and left 18 men on base, and night of wasted opportunities of epic proportions. And while, the didn't totally recreate those pathetic efforts on Saturday, they sure came close, going 3-for-13 with RISP and leaving 14 men on. By the end of the 7th, the Yankees had loaded the bases in three times and put two on in twice and had all of three runs.
Alex Rodriguez did come through with a huge three-run double with the bases loaded in the 8th to give the Yanks a 6-5 lead. It was a huge hit at the time, one that makes a fan feel like "Hey, that's just what we needed!", but obviously it wasn't enough and all those wasted chances came back to bite them in the ass.
Besides losing the game, the Yankees may also have lost Brett Gardner--at least for a few games. He left the game in the 6th because of a sore wrist that has been bothering him and isn't getting any better. He injured the wrist when he was hit by a pitch in LA back on June 27th. He will be out of the lineup tomorrow and go for an MRI when the Yankees are in Tampa. Tomorrow's Moseley vs. Lee matchup begins at 3:05 p.m., and will be on YES and TBS.... I'll probably be watching the Giants-Panthers game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Vlad Guerrero (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB)
HONORABLE MENTION: Ian Kinsler (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, R)
GOAT OF THE GAME: Mariano Rivera, Joe Girardi, the lineup.... take your pick.
