New York Yankees Drop to Second Place as Six Homers Not Enough

The Red Sox jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead by the fifth inning, but the Yankees managed to come all the way back to the point where they put the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning, only to see Robinson Cano strikeout to end the game 10-8.

Here are some highlights:

• The Yankees hit six home runs combined. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira had two each and Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson had the others.
• A-Rod tied and past Sammy Sosa on the home run list. He now has 610, good for sixth place all time.
• Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He’s batting .321 with an .802 OPS during that stretch.
• Andy Pettitte pitched just 3.1 innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, to get his first loss since returning from the DL.
• Pettitte said he felt fine physically.
• Jonathan Albaladejo came on in relief and gave up three runs over 1.2 innings.
• Sergio Mitre, Kerry Wood, and Boone Logan held the Sox scoreless over the final four innings.

The loss combined with a Rays win has knocked the Yankees back into second place by half a game. The magic number to clinch a playoff spot is still three, which means the Yankees can still get it done in this series against the Red Sox. However, they have Ivan Nova going today and Dustin Moseley going tomorrow, so they have their work cut out for them.

With the way the Yankees hit Josh Beckett, and with Andy Pettitte on the mound, they really should have won this game. They can make up for it by winning the next two, but dropping this series would be disappointing (although it wouldn’t necessarily mean anything).

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