BOSTON (KRT) — This would be another Red Sox heartbreak, wouldn’t it? Even with Andy Pettitte in the clubhouse with an elbow injury that could loom over the rotation, after another crucial fielding mistake had socked them in the gut and another poor hitting day from several principles, the Yankees still had a chance to beat Boston in the ninth inning Monday.
Against Boston’s erratic closer, Ugueth Urbina, whom the Yankees tried to trade for last year, they attempted to make up a one-run deficit, getting runners on second and third with one out.
But Rondell White, who by his own admission “was terrible” Monday, struck out. So did John Vander Wal, who thought the full-count pitch he watched go by was outside. Instead of a rally-extending walk, Vander Wal had to walk back to the dugout, dejected and angry, as the Red Sox celebrated a 4-3 victory at Fenway.
The Yankees’ Boston bummer was a Patriots’ Day weekend that ended with the Yanks’ third loss in the four-game series against their rivals — all by one run. Throughout the series, the Red Sox won the kind of games that the Yankees usually do.
Derek Lowe, the Sox closer most of last year who is now in the rotation, pitched seven terrific innings Monday, allowing just two hits and one run. He struck out a career-high nine, crushing the already-fading Yankee hopes for a solid road trip.
The Yankees had won the first two games of the eight-game trip that ended Monday. But they’ve lost five of their last six. “When you start 2-0, you have higher aspirations than coming back 3-5,” New York manager Joe Torre said.
It seemed like the Yankees might even the series and the road trip when Derek Jeter homered in the eighth inning, a two-run shot that pulled them to within a run. Jeter had booted a grounder by Tony Clark in the first inning that loaded the bases and helped the Red Sox add a run.
But Jeter’s homer, his second of the year, gave the Yankees life. In the ninth, Jorge Posada singled and Robin Ventura doubled before White (0-for-4, 4 Ks) and Vander Wal struck out.
No one in the Yankee clubhouse believed that the 3-2 pitch to Vander Wal had nipped the corner. Several Yankees may have strayed near fine territory with their appraisals of Larry Young’s call.
“It was maybe a foot outside,” Torre said. “It’s too bad. I’m not an umpire-complainer, but there’s not much you can do about it. That one was real bad.”
“Just take a look at the replay, that’s all I can say,” Vander Wal said. “It was a big ballgame. They’re all big ballgames to us.
“In my opinion, it was a ball. There’s no doubt in my mind. But I’m not the one calling balls and strikes.”
Vander Wal was asked if the ball tailed away from him. “You could say that,” he replied.
Meanwhile, Torre also seemed to be sensitive about the Yanks’ fielding, which cost the team repeatedly over the weekend. The Yankees entered Monday with the most errors and worst fielding percentage in the American League.
“You make a couple of errors in a key spot, everybody thinks it’s a terminal disease,” Torre said.
Losing to the Red Sox certainly would be. It’s bad enough that Sox manager Grady Little thought that his team got a charge out of winning this series.
“I think, as it turns out, it’s going to mean a lot around here,” Little said. “As close as they were and to come out on top makes it mean a lot.”