NO CLUTCH LUCK
A day after blasting Buccos, Bombers can’t buy a big hit
PITTSBURGH — The Yankees had a chance to feast on one more day of a weak opponent before leaving the bumbling Pirates behind and heading to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox on Tuesday.
But after pounding Pittsburgh into submission Saturday, the offense failed to come up with one more hit in a 2-1 loss at PNC Park.
It ended with the bases f illed with Yankees in the ninth, as Aaron Hicks struck out against Pirates closer Tony Watson and the light-hitting Pete Kozma — used as a pinch runner an inning earlier — grounding to short for the last out.
“I was trying to put the ball in play,” Hicks said of his approach with one out and the tying run on third base. “Especially once I got to two strikes, that’s what I wanted to do and didn’t do it. The pitcher was struggling and wasn’t locating anything.”
Watson’s issues came only after former Yankee Iva n Nova held down his ex-teammates over seven innings. He allowed just a solo homer to Jacoby Ellsbury in the seventh after holding the Yankees hitless into the fourth inning — after Jameson Taillon didn’t allow a hit to the Yankees until the fifth a day earlier.
But after putting together a pair of five-run innings on Saturday, the Yankees were unable to catch the Pirates — in part thanks to an 0-for-6 performance with runners in scoring position.
“We had a chance in the eighth and ninth,” Joe Girardi said after his team dropped its third straight road series. “This group keeps f ighting and that’s a good sign. You give yourself an opportunity and you’re gonna win some of those games. Those are important games to win.”
Especially with the Red Sox and Orioles coming up this week.
As Girardi noted, the Yankees squandered chances in more than just the ninth.
A oneout, pinch- hit single by Chris Carter and a walk by Brett Gardner in the eighth set up the Yankees, but Chase Headley popped out and Starlin Castro struck out after Kozma moved to third on a wild pitch by Daniel Hudson.
An inning later, Aaron Judge’s one-out single was followed by a walk by pinchhitter Matt Holliday. Ronald Torreyes then hit a grounder to second that should have been a game-ending double play, but Josh Harrison booted it to load the bases for Hicks.
When Hicks failed to drive in a run, it was up to Kozma — on the team only because of his glove and Didi Gregorius’ injury.
“When I look at it, you don’t know if you’re gonna get to that spot [in
the line- up],” Girardi said of the array of moves he made late in the game. “It’s just the way it worked out.”
More often than not this season, Girardi’s strategies have panned out, but this loss wasted another strong outing by rookie Jordan Montgomery, who gave up just two runs in six innings in his third career start.
It was an uncharacteristic showing from the offense, which entered Sunday having scored the most runs in the American League (91), second only to Arizona in the majors.
Now, the real test begins on Tuesday against the Red Sox.
“We know they’re extremely talented and they been through all kinds of things in the first month of the season,” Girardi said of Boston. “Whether it’s been some injuries [to David Price], the flu bug, they’ve been through a lot. … You look after this series … Boston, Baltimore and Toronto. It’s an important stretch.”