BOSTON — Phil Hughes absorbed a killer loss. Ten times the Yankees batted with runners in scoring position and failed to hit.
Yet, Mariano Rivera knew where the blame belonged after last night’s disheartening 3-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park in 10 innings.
“It was the pitch I wanted but I can’t blame nothing but myself,” Rivera said of the pitch Marco Scutaro hit off the Green Monster leading off the home ninth with the Yankees holding a 2-1 lead and three outs away from taking a one-game lead in the AL East and beating the Red Sox two out of three in New England’s living room. “I didn’t get it done.”
Scutaro, who was 6-for-18 against Rivera when he stepped into the batter’s box, drove a 2-2 pitch high off the wall for a leadoff double.
“I knew if it wasn’t a home run it was off the wall,” Rivera said.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who was 0-for-11 in bunt attempts for a base hit, moved Scutaro to third with a sacrifice bunt that Rivera fielded while third baseman Eduardo Nunez charged. Rivera thought about third but Nunez had no chance of getting to the bag and Rivera took the out at first.
Dustin Pedroia followed with a fly ball deep enough to left that scored Scutaro easily and send the game into extra frames.
That’s where Hughes, who was slated to start tomorrow night against the Angels at Yankee Stadium, entered for his first relief appearance of the season.
With one out in the 10th, David Ortiz rifled a ground-rule double over the right-field fence. Darnell McDonald ran for Ortiz and Carl Crawford (3-for-4) was walked intentionally.
Reddick followed with a bullet to left field that scored McDonald and led to the Red Sox mobbing Reddick in between first and second base.
The loss sent the Yankees home with a 5-2 road trip ledger. That isn’t bad, but a win last night would have proven to the Yankees, who are 2-10 against their blood rivals, they can beat the Red Sox. It also would have put them one length ahead in the AL East.
It was Rivera’s fifth blown save this year in 34 chances and his third against the Red Sox since 2007.
Even though Hughes threw 13 pitches, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Hughes will not start tomorrow night. That assignment could go to A.J. Burnett, who was slated for Wednesday.
Home runs by Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner (3-for-5) combined with solid mound work from starter Freddy Garcia and four relievers put the Yankees three outs from victory.
Garcia allowed a run and five hits in five innings. His counterpart, Josh Beckett, gave up a run and six hits in six innings.
Crawford’s one-out single to right off Robertson in the eighth brought Reddick, one of six Red Sox hitters in the starting lineup who batted right-handed (Jason Varitek is a switch-hitter), to the plate.
Robertson got Reddick to miss a 0-2 pitch in the dirt for the second out but the ball got by catcher Russell Martin, allowing Crawford to move to second.
Robertson jumped ahead of Varitek, 0-2, and bounced a wild pitch past Martin that sent Crawford to third. That’s where Crawford stayed when Varitek fouled out.
Rafael Soriano’s second consecutive perfect inning spanning three games kept the 2-1 lead intact in the seventh.
Gardner had gone 156 at-bats without a homer when he faced Matt Albers in the seventh with the score tied 1-1 and two out. Gardner’s first homer since June 19 and fifth of the season stunned the crowd and put the Yankees up a run. When Albers hit Derek Jeter with a 93-mph fastball, lefty Franklin Morales was summoned to face Curtis Granderson. He walked and Morales walked Mark Teixeira on four pitches to load the bases for Robinson Cano whose grounder to the right side stranded three.
george.king@nypost.com