Alfonso Soriano helped steal a game for the Yankees with a key swipe of third and Curtis Granderson at the plate in the 11th inning against Tampa Bay on Aug. 25.
He evened things out Thursday night with a disastrous ninth inning on the basepaths in the Yankees crushing 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox.
Representing the winning run at second base, Soriano was picked off with Granderson up again. It was his second gaffe of the inning and it cost the Yankees.
After drawing a one-out walk, Soriano was initially caught off first, but Daniel Nava was unable to handle lefty Craig Breslow’s throw and Soriano reached second safely. Following Breslow’s attempt to get Soriano again at second, the outfielder decided to make a break for third.
“[Breslow] has a very good move,” Soriano said. “After I got to second, he [tried to] pick me off one time and I said, ‘Maybe he doesn’t want to [try to] pick me off twice’ and he got me on the second move.”
Soriano was tagged out by Dustin Pedroia after getting caught in a rundown and despite the ugly outcome, said he didn’t regret his actions.
“This is my game, to be aggressive on the bases, especially in the ninth inning with less than two out, try to get to third,” Soriano said. “They made a very good play right there.”
Then Breslow struck out Granderson to send the game to the 10th.
Manager Joe Girardi was visibly upset in the dugout, but didn’t tell Soriano anything after the play.
“No, he knows it’s a very aggressive play,” Soriano said. “We’re trying to steal a game in the ninth and with a lefty hitting, I didn’t think they’d think I’d want to go.”
The manager did make his feelings clear after the game.
“You can’t get thrown out there,” Girardi said.
Soriano’s play was one of many that cost the Yankees in a game they couldn’t afford to lose.
“It’s tough to get the loss because we came back and scored six runs in one inning,” Soriano said. “At that point, I think we’ve got the game, but they never give up.”
Though this might turn out to be a fateful defeat in a season seemingly full of them, Soriano said he was confident the Yankees could come back again.
“We don’t have to put our head down,” Soriano said. “We still have three games left [against Boston] and hopefully tomorrow we’ll have the same energy and same attitude.”