If Javier Vazquez ignored a baseball commandment last night, the Yankees might have had a chance to open a four-game series against the Red Sox with a victory.
Instead of calling for an infield pop up near the first-base line in the second inning, Vazquez let Francisco Cervelli handle the routine pop and watched the catcher drop it.
“I think I should have called the ball; I think I am a pretty good fielder,” Vazquez said of the error that led to three unearned runs and gift-wrapped a 6-3 Red Sox victory that was witnessed by 49,555 at Yankee Stadium. “I thought it was an easier play for me. You never know how the game goes from there.”
Vazquez said he wasn’t unnerved that Mike Lowell’s pop spilled out of Cervelli’s glove. However, after striking out the next batter, Vazquez issued two straight walks — one with the bases loaded — and gave up a two-run double to Marco Scutaro for a 4-2 lead. After the Yankees cut it to 4-3 in the fifth, Vazquez surrendered a two-run homer to Red Bank, N.J., product Ryan Kalish. It was Kalish’s first big league homer.
“It was a bad pitch,” said Vazquez (9-8), who suffered his first loss since June 30. “I wanted it away and it came middle in.”
Though Vazquez was sabotaged by Cervelli’s mistake, he did give up six runs (three earned), six hits and walked four (one intentional) in 51⁄3 innings. He is 2-8 with a 4.39 ERA against the Red Sox in 11 career regular-season starts.
With A.J. Burnett facing Josh Beckett tomorrow night and Dustin Moseley opposite Jon Lester Monday, today’s start for CC Sabathia against John Lackey is very important to the skidding Yankees.
Their fifth loss in seven games reduced the Yankees’ lead over the third-place Red Sox to five games. The Yankees remained in first place, one-half length ahead of the second-place Rays.
“We took advantage of a mistake,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, whose club has won eight of 11.
Cervelli shouldered all the blame for the defeat. But there were other factors.
“You never let the pitcher catch fly balls,” said Cervelli, who admitted he called for the ball. “It was my fault. I am supposed to catch the ball.”
After Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer off Clay Buchholz in the first to put the Yankees ahead 2-1, they had multiple chances to punish the right-hander and failed.
In the fourth they had runners on first and second with no outs and watched Curtis Granderson hit into a double play and Cervelli strike out. The next inning, they scored a run on Alex Rodriguez’s two-out, RBI single but Robinson Cano stranded two.
The Yankees were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and have six hits in the last 38 at-bats (.158) in the clutch.
george.king@nypost.com
Buchholz (12-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in 71⁄3 innings. Daniel Bard recorded the final two outs of the eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon worked a scoreless ninth for his 27th save.
“It led to three unearned runs. It was unfortunate,” manager Joe Girardi said of the dropped pop. “Someone has to catch it, that’s the bottom line. Maybe it was an easier play for Javy. Cervy called it and dropped it.”
george.king@nypost.com