Frustrating day for Yankees in 4-3 loss

Derek Jeter was at third base with two outs in the ninth inning in a game the Yankees seemed poised to steal.

Robinson Cano, who already had two hits, stepped to the plate, the right hitter in the right moment. But the storyline didn't quite match the anticipation yesterday: Cano grounded out. That sealed a 4-3 win for the Oakland A's on a hot, humid afternoon in the Bronx.

With the Yankees trailing 4-2 to start the ninth, Brett Gardner drew a nine-pitch walk, Jeter singled for his third hit and the two pulled off a double-steal as Curtis Granderson struck out. Mark Teixeira then launched Andrew Bailey's first pitch for a sacrifice fly that drove in Gardner and moved Jeter to third.

As Cano dug into the batter's box, the Yankees were confident he would get the job done. "The tenacity of this team is unbelievable," Nick Swisher said. "In every situation or every obstacle we're up against, we feel that we're equipped to fight that. We just kind of ran out of innings."

With the count 1-and-1 and Cano in the box, he raised his left hand in an attempt to have umpire Bill Welke call timeout. But Welke didn't grant it and Cano swung at a 78-mph curveball that was out of the strike zone, grounding weakly to third.

"What more can you ask for?" said Gardner, who picked up his 31st stolen base. "You get two guys on base for Curtis and for Mark and Robbie Cano. We weren't able to get both runs in . . . but that's baseball. I'll take those chances with those guys coming up to the plate. It's part of a day, tough conditions to play in, especially when you fight that hard and lose by just a little bit."

The Yankees moved within 3-2 in the sixth when Swisher hit a tremendous home run off the facing of the upper deck just inside the rightfield foul pole, knocking A's starter Rich Harden (2-1) out of the game. Russell Branyan is the only player to homer into the rightfield upper deck at the new Yankee Stadium, doing so for the Mariners last Aug. 21 against Javier Vazquez, and according to the YES Network, Swisher became the first Yankee to hit the facing.

But former Yankee Hideki Matsui lined a home run on Boone Logan's first pitch of the seventh for a 4-2 lead.

Jeter's double and Teixeira's two-out single put runners on first and third in the seventh, but Cano flied out to deep center. Swisher walked and Russell Martin's second single put runners on first and second to begin the eighth, but Eduardo Nuñez couldn't get a bunt down before flying out and Jorge Posada hit into a double play. The Yankees left 11 on base and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

With two outs and none on in the third, A.J. Burnett (8-8) allowed Matsui's single and Josh Willingham's two-run homer for a 2-1 Oakland lead. "It was right down the middle, man," Burnett said. " . . . It's unfortunate to have to be woken up like that."

With two outs and none on in the sixth, Burnett gave up a single and then walked the Nos. 8 and 9 batters, Conor Jackson and Landon Powell. Cory Wade replaced him and allowed an RBI single by Jemile Weeks.

"I walked back-to-back guys, so he probably figured I was wearing down and it's time to get out there,'' Burnett said of Girardi's decision to take him out. "I felt good for the most part. I was a little fatigued, I'm not going to lie. It was hot, but I did feel stronger as the game went on."