Swisher's bid for walk-off slam just short

The Yankees' long balls came long after Bartolo Colon left the game.

Their offense, dormant for seven innings against Athletics starter Brandon McCarthy, suddenly came to life, and it seemed as if Nick Swisher's three-run blast in the eighth and Jorge Posada's solo homer in the ninth would pry Colon off the hook. But the run support came a little too late, as the Yankees fell short Tuesday night, 6-5.

The Yankees fell into a virtual tie for first in the AL East with the Red Sox, who defeated the Rangers.

Hours after an East Coast earthquake shook New York City, Yankee Stadium rocked as deafening roars tried to will the home team to victory.

After Posada hit his 11th homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth, Russell Martin doubled to left-center. Brett Gardner reached on an error by third baseman Scott Sizemore, who charged and scooped a grounder before dropping it. Derek Jeter (3-for-3) bunted both runners over for Curtis Granderson, who narrowly missed hitting a home run on a 3-and-2 count. Instead, he walked to load the bases.

Mark Teixeira fouled out to third for the second out, but Robinson Cano walked to force in Martin, making the score 6-5. It appeared Swisher, whose three-run homer injected life into the Stadium the inning before, would have a seven-RBI night. But he just got under a 92-mph fastball from Andrew Bailey, lofting it to right-center, where centerfielder Coco Crisp caught it on the warning track in front of the bullpen to end the game.

"You always want to be that guy in that spot. At least I do," said Swisher, who has 16 home runs. "You want to try to be the hero for sure."

The Yankees, 3-3 in their past six games, went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

That biting cutter of Colon's that once impressed the Yankees has lost some of its luster. The late movement on it now comes and goes, juxtaposing efficiency with blatant miscues. Perhaps the Yankees should just be thankful they got as much mileage as they did out of Colon's 38-year-old right arm.

He was neither bad nor brilliant this time, but Colon (8-8, 3.78 ERA) remained winless since July 30. He allowed five earned runs and eight hits, striking out five and walking none in 61/3 innings.

"He made a couple mistakes with his slider," Joe Girardi said. "But I think he did OK."

Colon seemed pleased with his outing.

"To me, I think I pitched good," he said through an interpreter. Colon purposely stayed away from his best pitch, the two-seam fastball, because he gave up two home runs on it in his previous outing.

The Yankees (77-49) made it a game in the eighth, when Jeter -- who tied Hall of Famer Rod Carew for 22nd on the all-time hits list with 3,053 -- hit a leadoff single before Granderson walked. Jeter advanced to third on a Teixeira flyout, but Cano, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 14 games, lined out.

Swisher, however, drilled the first pitch of the at-bat into the bullpen to pull the Yankees to within 6-3. The home run knocked McCarthy (7-6) out of the game, but Grant Balfour got Eric Chavez to ground out to end the inning.

Colon threw a 12-pitch first inning, but faltered in the second when Brandon Allen belted a towering blast into the upper deck over the third-level suites in rightfield. Eric Sogard hit his first career homer, a line drive just inside the rightfield foul pole, to make it 2-0 in the third.

Colon has allowed six home runs over his past four starts (182/3 innings) after allowing only two in the seven starts (371/3 innings) before then. But he said he isn't concerned with the long balls he's given up or the 131 innings he's logged.

"I feel really healthy, very strong," he said. "All I have to do is keep working hard and see what happens.''

The A's went up 5-0 in the seventh when pinch hitter Sizemore ripped a two-run double off Boone Logan's first pitch of the game. Allen hit his second home run off Hector Noesi to give the A's a six-run lead, but it barely stood up.