The Yankees have lost their first game since two weeks ago when they lost against Tampa Bay. Since then, they have gone a perfect 10-0 and they found magical ways of winning in late innings. More importantly, their starting pitching was near perfect. Tonight, Hiroki Kuroda went seven innings and allowed four runs. That's not a bad pitching performance but when the Yankees score one less run than the other team, it looks like a sloppy performance. Kuroda did not have his best stuff today. He gave up too many extra base hits and walks which ended up costing him a victory. The last run was a "bad luck" run which went off Teixeira's glove and ended up in no man's land. If that play is fielded cleanly, we could be watching extra innings right now.
The more glaring issue with the Yankees is their inability to score runs with men on base. They had chances handed to them in the middle innings. Two men were thrown out at the plate and the rest of the hitters didn't reach in crucial situations after Swisher's two-run double in the second inning. They went 2-11 with runners in scoring position. The offense is capable of doing a lot more than a lowly .182 batting average with men in scoring position. They just haven't gotten the job done in these situations.
Tomorrow, the Yankees look to begin a new winning streak as they send out Phil Hughes to face Tommy Hanson. Hughes has been great lately and looks to win his eighth game of the season.
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