Park returns, gives up two homers in eighth

Chan Ho Park joked Monday afternoon about his aging body and his constant worries about his troublesome hamstring. But by nightfall, his injury was the least of his concerns.

The Yankees reliever, who was activated from the 15-day disabled list before last night's 11-9 win over the Red Sox after missing 30 games with a low-level right hamstring strain, coughed up a 7-6 lead on back-to-back home runs by Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez in the eighth inning.

After Boone Logan allowed a solo home run by Martinez in the sixth, Park relieved him to start the seventh and surrendered a hit to his first batter, Darnell McDonald. But he retired Marco Scutaro on a fly to right before getting Dustin Pedroia to ground into an inning-ending double play.

But Park never got an out in the eighth as J.D. Drew singled, Youkilis lofted an 84-mph slider over the leftfield wall for a go-ahead two-run shot and Martinez crushed his second home run of the night to right-centerfield to make it 9-7.

Park said he tried to keep the pitch to Youkilis down but missed up in the strike zone. As for his fastball to Martinez, he said: "Three-and-two, you got to throw strikes."

When Alex Rodriguez and Marcus Thames hit two-run homers in the ninth to give the Yankees the victory, Park's location issues temporarily may have been overshadowed, but his effectiveness is even more critical now that the Yankees' bullpen is in a state of flux.

The 36-year-old - who was placed on the DL on April 16 (retroactive to April 14) after experiencing discomfort in his right leg while warming up during the Yankees' 6-2 victory over the Angels - said after the game that he is fine physically and chose to focus on the positive.

"I've given up two grand slams in one inning before," said Park, who in April 1999 became the only major-league pitcher to give up two slams to the same player (current Met and former Cardinal Fernando Tatis) in the same inning.

"The hitters are so good and that's one of the top hitters in the lineup. And we came back, the whole team, guys picked me up . . . That shows how good the team is. Forget about the bad . . . We win, and that's the goal."