BALTIMORE — For the second straight night, one bad pitch out of the bullpen cost the Yankees.
On Tuesday, it was Vidal Nuno’s offering to Nate McLouth on the game-winning homer. Wednesday night, Preston Claiborne met a similar fate when he was greeted by Matt Wieters’ three-run shot after relieving the injured Hiroki Kuroda in the third inning of the Yankees’ 6-3 loss at Camden Yards.
Afterward, Claiborne chided himself for the “non-executed pitch” and manager Joe Girardi stood by his decision to hold off on using Adam Warren until the fifth.
“He’s a reliever and he’s used to getting ready and coming in to face a batter,” Girardi said of Claiborne. “Warren is used to starting innings.”
Claiborne didn’t complain about being thrust into action when Kuroda was removed.
“I had plenty of time to get ready,” Claiborne said. “I took the appropriate time. As a reliever, you’ve got to get ready in a hurry. You’ve got to be locked in at all times.”
Instead, Claiborne just blamed the pitch.
“It happens,” Claiborne said of the shot that made it 6-1. “If I threw it where I wanted it, I more than likely would have got a good result.”
Girardi has gotten more out of his bullpen, filled with mostly untested pitchers, than he probably had a right to ask for.
Claiborne, a rookie, has impressed since being called up to replace Joba Chamberlain on May 3 when Chamberlain was put on the disabled list because of an oblique injury.
Before Wednesday night, Claiborne had pitched nine scoreless innings over seven appearances and hadn’t walked a batter.
Kuroda’s early departure was caused by what the team announced as a bruised right calf. He was hit in the right leg by a Manny Machado comebacker in the second and was removed in the third following a double by Adam Jones and a single by Chris Davis.
Though Claiborne settled down and retire the next six, the feeble Yankees offense couldn’t overcome the deficit.
Warren was able to continue his solid work in long relief, throwing four shutout innings, but Girardi has been concerned about overworking all aspects of his bullpen.
It’s why Girardi wouldn’t push Claiborne or David Robertson beyond one inning in Tuesday’s 10-inning loss, which forced him to use Nuno in an unfamiliar spot.