The New York Yankees were leading and finally had a chance to pad their lead in the American League East.
After spending all of September either tied or one game up on the Baltimore Orioles, the team welcomed a chance to put some distance between the two, but failed to get it done, losing to the Minnesota Twins 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Phil Hughes was pitching a strong game for the Yankees into the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead, but after loading the bases, manager Joe Girardi brought in Boone Logan from the bullpen. Instead of holding for the win and going up 2 ½ games on the Orioles, Logan let the Twins get ahead and allowed the Orioles to keep pace in the division after losing to the Blue Jays 4-0.
"It's tough," Hughes said. "I feel like I was throwing the ball well. It's a tough one to lose."
Hughes was working out of trouble in the seventh inning when Girardi decided to play it safe and bring in Logan, a lefty specialist. The Twins had three straight left handed batters coming to the plate following the next man up, Denard Span.
"The inning was so long and he'd worked so hard, and Boonie had done a good job in his career against Span, I decided to go with him," Girardi said.
Logan threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score and then gave up a two-run double to Span. Joe Mauer followed with an RBI single that put the Twins up 5-4 for good.
The loss still kept the Yankees ahead in the division, but was the first real chance the team had at pulling away from the Orioles, who had already lost while the game was still going on.
"It's easy to look back and criticize when your lefty who has been money all year doesn't get it done," catcher Russell Martin said. "I have to block the ball. That's what changed the inning."
Nick Swisher continued his hot hitting for the Yankees after slumping in August, hitting a home run for the third straight game. He put the Yankees up 2-0 in the fourth after belting a homer with Ropbinson Cano on base.
The Twins added a run in the fourth but fell behind 3-1 after Yankees catcher Russell Martin hit a home run 413 feet to left center field in the seventh.
After that was when the trouble began for the Yankees. Hughes gave up a single to Ryan Doumit, walked Chris Parmlee and then allowed an infield hit to Jamey Carroll to load the bases.
Hughes wanted to stay in the game and finish the inning, but Girardi's decision to play it safe turned out to be the game-changing move for the Twins. Hughes had won his past three starts and looked sharp for the entire game, keeping his fastball in the 90s and striking out four.
"I was hoping (to stay in)," Hughes said. "But I don't make those decisions. I pitch until I'm told to."
The Twins added four runs in the inning and never looked back.
"We had an opportunity," Girardi said. "But you can look at it the other way, too. We've got to come out and win the series tomorrow."
On the plus side, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter extended his hit streak to 19 games and Cano has started to heat up after a mini-slump, going 3-for-3 with a walk.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
