Yankees unable to convert scoring chances

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  1. YankeesDaily

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    By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

    NEW YORK -- The Yankees headed into the weekend hoping for a chance to deliver a knockdown punch to a beat-up Red Sox club, and as it turned out, a gentle gush of wind might have been enough to tip the balance.

    But Marcus Thames' seventh-inning drive hung in the humidity and clipped the top of the wall for a double, one of the missed opportunities the Bombers swallowed en route to a 2-1 loss Monday and a series split with Boston.

    "I hit it hard. That's all I can do," shrugged Thames, who was stranded on base as the Yankees left the bases loaded. "I can't guide it after it leaves my bat. It was inches away. I did all I had to do, tried to get a good pitch, and I hit it. I gave it a shot and it didn't go."

    That fluke play was indicative of the Yankees' futility on an afternoon when they left 11 men on base and were hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position, but Thames was hardly to blame.

    Boston left-hander Jon Lester was in command early, including taking a no-hitter one out into the fifth inning, but the Yankees started to crack through in the seventh, chipping away at the two runs the Red Sox had managed in six innings against Phil Hughes.

    Thames' drive off the fence in front of the right-center-field bullpen bounced back into play and a walk gave the Yankees the bases loaded with none out, but Lester struck out Curtis Granderson before Daniel Bard came on to fan both Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher, leaving the bags full.

    "Myself, I think I had three chances to drive somebody in and I couldn't make it happen," Swisher said. "You want to tip your hat, but in a situation like that, we should have at least tied that game."

    Teixeira led off the eighth by hammering a 3-1 pitch from Bard into the second deck in right field, coming through with his 26th home run of the season. But Teixeira could not repeat the feat in the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon, striking out to end the game while representing the winning run.

    "We definitely did [miss chances], but at the same time, give them credit, because they made the big pitch when they needed to," Teixeira said. "It was kind of a bend-but-don't-break attitude for them today. We just couldn't come up with the big hit."

    "It's huge," Lester said. "Any win at this time of year is big for us. Obviously being in here makes it a little more special. We're just keep chipping away."

    Homers in back-to-back at-bats would have been a tall order to ask of Teixeira, especially since the Yankees did have the go-ahead run on base a frame earlier, but pinch-hitter Lance Berkman flied out against Bard and Papelbon needed just one pitch to get Austin Kearns to ground out.

    "It's kind of win-win," Bard said. "Just give it your best shot, and fortunately, I was able to bail Jonny out. He pitched a great game and deserved a win there. I'm glad we could hold it for him."

    Kearns also played a supporting role in another moment, one that will be lost in the box score. After Thames' double in the seventh, Kearns lifted a foul ball down the left-field line that Ryan Kalish chased, but a fan obstructed Kalish's view and the ball landed safely in the seats.

    That prolonged Kearns' at-bat, allowing him to walk against Lester and load the bases, but a sacrifice fly would have scored Jorge Posada from third base and tied the game.

    "We missed a lot of opportunities in the last three innings," manager Joe Girardi said. "We had some chances to score some runs. Obviously they have a good back end of the bullpen, but we had our shots."

    Hughes labored in a long second inning that saw the Red Sox push across two runs. Kalish singled, stole second and advanced on Posada's throwing error before scoring on Bill Hall's RBI single. After a single and a walk, J.D. Drew connected on a run-scoring groundout to bring Hall home.

    Though Hughes escaped without further damage, he needed 37 pitches to navigate that inning, which saw pitching coach Dave Eiland visit the mound and prompted the Yankees to get Chad Gaudin loose in the bullpen just in case Boston dealt a crushing blow.

    "I made some decent pitches, but didn't get the results I was looking for," Hughes said. "It's when you've got to bear down and keep grinding and hope that if you continue to make good pitches, good things will happen."

    Hughes found an economical groove after those early troubles, retiring 10 straight Red Sox batters until Victor Martinez broke up the string with a fifth-inning double. Hughes completed six innings, scattering six hits while walking one and striking out three as he lost for the fourth time in eight starts.

    "He kept us in the game," Posada said. "He pitched a lot better from the second inning on. He really threw pitches where he wanted to, the curveball was a lot better, throwing strikes. He's got that kind of stuff. He was good. He gave us a chance."

    There was one minor milestone as the Yankees and Red Sox wrapped their four-game set: Jeter logged his 2,876th career hit with a fifth-inning single, tying Mel Ott for the 38th most hits all-time. Ott and Jeter also now share the records for most hits by a player while playing for a New York team.

    That footnote aside, the Yankees depart town knowing they could have dealt a serious blow to Boston's chances, having been able to put them as many as eight games back within a division where they are already embroiled in a fight with the Rays that most believe will go down to the wire.

    But the Red Sox, injured as they may be in certain areas, have to feel good about exiting Yankee Stadium still within striking distance. New York and Boston won't do battle again until Sept. 24, and those games may prove to be even more meaningful than this weekend's set.

    "We know that there's still a lot of baseball and we have to continue to try and win series," Girardi said. "I'm going to say it again and you probably get tired of hearing it. No one said it was going to be easy."
     

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