What should have been a night to talk only about another cannot-afford-it defeat, a base-running blunder and a temporary loss of composure, turned into a chance to talk about another injury for the Yankees.
Hey, it’s September. Why should things change now?
Martin Prado, the Yankees’ version of spackle — he fills in just about any hole — since he arrived via trade from Arizona, was lost late in the game to a tight left hamstring.
The Yankees said Dr. Chris Ahmad made the initial diagnosis of a tight hamstring and that Prado was going for additional tests.
“He felt something in his left hamstring,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We’ll see how he is [Wednesday]. He’s not someone we want to lose. He’s played extremely well.”
Minus a base-running play, of course. Prado is hitting .381 (24-of-63) with four homers and 11 RBIs in his last 16 games. He has five homers in his 29 games as a Yankee after hitting five in 106 games with the D-Backs.
Prado, who homered for the Yankees’ first run and then got caught in an the embarrassing running goof, was lifted for a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the 9-4 loss to Boston on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Prado, who started the game at second base and later moved to left, followed singles by Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann (a bunt against the shift) with a shot over left fielder Yoenis Cespedes’ head. Beltran, thinking it might be caught, only got to third, despite the ball one-hopping the wall. McCann stopped at second.
Prado didn’t stop. Oops. He was breathing down McCann’s neck and then was easily run down for the first out.
“It’s just tough to lose. We’re trying to win as many as we can,” McCann said when asked about the base-running gaffe.
The Yankees scored two runs in the inning that ended with Brett Gardner slamming his bat and helmet in anger after being called out on a third strike with the bases loaded.
“Prado was looking at the ball,” Girardi said of the running mistake. “That’s going to happen. That’s normal. But you also have to look at the people in front of you.
“It’s tough, because we gave them one out,” Girardi said. “It looked like we were getting to [starter and winner Joe Kelly] and that was a big out.”
So was Gardner’s K.
“As soon as he called it a strike, I was getting thrown out,” Gardner said. “I knew where the ball came across, and I knew it wasn’t close to the plate. I wasn’t happy about it.”