ANAHEIM, Calif. – Joe Girardi gathered his fading Yankees in the clubhouse early yesterday afternoon and delivered what was described as a quick pep talk.
What the manager should have done instead was hold a clinic on hitting with runners in scoring position and introduce Wilson Betemit to the art of playing first base.
Thanks to multiple failures in the clutch and Betemit breaking toward first on Chone Figgins’ ninth-inning grounder, the Yankees swallowed a 4-3 loss to the Angels in front of 44,138 at Angel Stadium.
Their third straight defeat to the best team in baseball dropped the Yankees to 8 1/2 games back of the AL East-leading Rays. They remain four lengths back of the Red Sox, who lead the wild card race.
That tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . you hear is the countdown to a Yankee-less October.
“I still don’t know what happened, a 10-hopper got through the infield, it was almost like our guys froze,” a stunned Girardi said of Figgins’ grounder on Mariano Rivera’s first pitch that slithered into right field and drove in Howie Kendrick from second with the winning run. “No way I thought that would win the game. I didn’t think it would get through the infield.”
Betemit, who has limited experience at first base, was in the game after pinch hitting for Richie Sexson in the ninth versus Francisco Rodriguez. Betemit, who struck out looking in that at-bat, didn’t move toward the ball on Figgins’ grounder.
“When I saw the ball, I went to the base,” Betemit said.
Second baseman Robinson Cano said the ball split him and Betemit perfectly.
“It was right between us,” said Cano, who might have been able to knock the ball down with a dive, but watched it whisper past his glove into the outfield.
Rivera, whom Girardi said he was going to attempt to coax “four or five outs of,” was stunned to see the ball in the outfield.
“I was going to cover first base, but there was nothing to cover,” Rivera said. “I thought there was going to be two outs. I was surprised to see Wilson (going to first base). I was shocked.”
Because the play decided the game and raised many questions as to who was at fault, the lack of clutch hitting and Andy Pettitte’s third-inning balk were glossed over. So was Alex Rodriguez being called out trying to steal third in the eighth with one out and the score tied, 3-3.
After getting two clutch hits in the first inning when they jumped Joe Saunders for a 2-0 lead but should have had more, the Yankees finished the game 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. In the past seven games, the Yankees are hitting .203 (12-for-59) with runners in scoring position.
“No question, we haven’t done the job,” Rodriguez said of the Yanks, who are batting .252 with runners in scoring position and 20 points higher overall. “We haven’t been good.”
The lack of clutch hitting led Rodriguez to attempt to swipe third.
“In that situation you can’t let the game come to you,” Rodriguez said. “I was safe.”
In the third inning Pettitte (three runs, 10 hits and a ball off the left leg in seven innings) believed there was a pickoff play on when he threw to Sexson, who was on the infield grass. Sexson never saw the ball coming until it hit him. The balk moved runners to second and third and Mark Teixeira’s fly to right plated Figgins and put the Angels ahead, 3-2.
“There are no excuses, it was a devastating series,” Rodriguez said of getting swept. “It’s very frustrating because we could have won two of three. We have to stop the bleeding and get this train going in the right direction.”
It’s hard to believe that’s going to happen. Especially when the first baseman doesn’t know where to go.
BOXSCORE
Angels: 4
Yankees: 3