Yankees' bats don't come through this time

ARLINGTON, Texas - As clutch as the Yankees were in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, that's how unclutch they were in a 7-2 Game 2 loss to the Rangers yesterday.

After falling behind, the Yankees had chances. They had men on base. They had their RBI guys at the plate.

But a 1-for-11 performance with runners in scoring position and 12 men left on base meant a second straight miracle comeback wasn't going to happen.

In Game 1, the Yankees trailed 3-0 after one inning and 5-0 after four as the Rangers hit CC Sabathia hard. But the Yankees scored one in the seventh and five in the eighth for a 6-5 win.

In Game 2, the Yankees trailed 5-0 after three innings and 7-1 after five as the Rangers hit Phil Hughes hard. They had 15 baserunners against starter Colby Lewis and five relievers but didn't cash in, with the exception of Lance Berkman's RBI single in the fourth and Robinson Cano's solo homer in the sixth.

"We had plenty of opportunities, plenty of guys on base, but is just not going to happen that often," Berkman said. "It's just not gonna. Especially in the postseason. It's tough. Those guys were second in the American League in bullpen ERA. It's not like you're going up there and guys are underhanding the ball. They got guys throwing 100 miles an hour."

One of those guys is 27-year-old righthander Alexi Ogando, who had a 1.30 ERA in 44 regular-season games. For some reason, he was not one of the four relievers who came in Friday during the Yankees' five-run eighth.

Ron Washington called on Ogando in the seventh inning of Game 2 with the score 7-2. He allowed a walk and a hit but fanned the red-hot Cano with a 96-mph fastball to end the inning.

The Yankees had other opportunities, both early and late:

Berkman left two men on when he hit a scorching liner to rightfield to end the second;

In the third, Lewis retired Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez with two men on to maintain a 3-0 Texas lead;

In the sixth, with the score 7-2, Clay Rapada struck out Marcus Thames on a 76-mph changeup with two men on.

Even in the ninth, the Yankees picked up a pair of walks against Neftali Feliz. But A-Rod hit a chopper to third and Nelson Cruz ran down Cano's long fly to left to give the Rangers their first-ever postseason home victory.

Of course, it's unfair to blame the hitters when the Yankees' starting pitchers keep putting them in a hole. It happened in the opener of the ALDS, but the Yankees came back. Then they got two well-pitched games from Andy Pettitte and Hughes to sweep that series.

"Our starters pitched extremely well and everyone was giddy about them in the last series," manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't ever get involved in snapshot pictures because those can be dangerous."

Said Berkman: "The postseason has always been and will always be about pitching. If you get a good pitching performance, you're probably going to win the game, and if you don't, it's going to be tough to win."