Yankees' pitching, defense shaky as first-place Rays come to Stadium

From Joe Torre to Joe Girardi, from Jim Leyritz to Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees' great moments often carry a similar theme:

Frequently enough, when required, these guys have hit their way out of trouble.

Late Tuesday evening into this morning, then, provided an exception. Though they came close to doing so, the Yankees' bats couldn't quite cover for the systemic failures of the pitching and defense.

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox, 7-6, at Yankee Stadium, because - for the third straight day - they blew a late lead. They allowed the Red Sox to climb back to .500, at 20-20, because they handed their rivals enough second chances to get it right, after neutralizing Boston's Monday night comeback with one of their own.

There's not a single valid cause for concern, not with the Yankees sporting a 25-14 record as the American League East-leading Rays make their first visit to the Bronx on Wednesday night. Yet you needn't be a seamhead to realize the Yankees aren't playing their best ball at the moment.

"You know you're going to have your good days and your bad days," Joba Chamberlain said. "You've got to respond and learn from them. You can't feel bad for yourself. You have to not be happy about it now, but learn from it tomorrow."

Several scapegoats emerged as the Yankees entered the eighth with a 5-1 advantage and wound up losers, but Chamberlain has to earn the gold scar. After taking the loss Sunday, as Mariano Rivera followed him by surrendering a bases-loaded walk (to Jim Thome) then a grand slam (to Jason Kubel), the Yankees' primary setup man surrendered four runs in the eighth, turning it into a tie game.

The inning began as Marco Scutaro reached first on Alex Rodriguez's error, yet four of the next five Red Sox hitters stroked hits, building an impressive rally. Chamberlain fell behind four of the seven batters he faced.

"It was one of those days where I couldn't find the strike zone, and we paid for it," Chamberlain said. "They're too good to give them second chances.

The righthander added: "That one's on me. Nobody else. I'll take full credit for it."

That would be inaccurate, though. Rivera permitted a one-out single to Darnell McDonald in the ninth, and after Monday night's hero Marcus Thames failed to catch an easy Scutaro pop fly to rightfield, Jeremy Hermida stroked a two-run double to left. If the Yankees had been playing their outfield at normal depth, then Randy Winn would've made the catch. Yet Girardi said that playing Winn extremely shallow served as standard operating procedure when Rivera faced a lefty batter.

"For the most part, we've been really good except for the two games we lost on this homestand," Girardi said, referring to Sunday and Tuesday. "Our bullpen had been doing a pretty good job."

Eh. Chan Ho Park and David Robertson both possess ERAs over 8.00. Damaso Marte has been shaky.

It's just that, again, the Yankees have used their bats as cleaning devices. Only not on this night. With Jorge Posada (right foot) and Nick Swisher (left biceps) still sidelined, leaving Randy Winn to hit against Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth - and strike out, to end the game - the Yankees couldn't mop their own mess.

They have an outstanding lineup, when everyone's healthy. Yet their bullpen and defense should be competent enough to end things more peacefully than what has gone down the past three days.