Mark Teixeira’s fly ball fell a few feet short of the right-field seats in the bottom of the ninth to end the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Twins last night in The Bronx.
By the time Clete Thomas hauled in Teixeira’s bid to extend the game — 3:27 after the first pitch — you could have forgotten the main culprit in the loss was again the Yankees’ rotation, as Hiroki Kuroda coughed up four first-inning runs in another outing that won’t make the doubts about his ability to pitch in the American League go away.
“He was up and didn’t have his good sinker that he had against the Angels, especially in the first inning,” manager Joe Girardi said. “And they really made him pay.”
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
GOING, GOING... Russell Martin only can watch as Minnesota designated hitter Justin Morneau belts a two-run homer in the first inning of the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Twins last night at the Stadium.
Teams have been doing that to the 6-6 Yankees a lot this season, scoring first in eight of 12 games.
“My sinker is my core pitch, but I didn’t have my other pitches, either, so I couldn’t rely on them,” said Kuroda, who pitched eight shutout innings against the Angels in his previous start. But other than that, he has had difficulty making the transition to the American League.
“I can’t really make that excuse,” said Kuroda, who allowed 10 hits. “I’m a professional baseball player. If I go on the mound, I’m there to win.”
The offense tried to get Kuroda back in the game, scoring three times in the first, thanks in part to Robinson Cano’s first homer of the year. But Kuroda gave up six runs in just 4 1/3 innings and was done in by a pair of home runs by Justin Morneau.
Kuroda’s short outing also means the Yankees have gotten more than six innings from their starters just three times in 12 games. Kuroda, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia have been disappointments.
“There’s an immediate concern, yeah, because you tax your bullpen,” Girardi said. “I believe the guys are going to straighten it out.”
Last night, Russell Martin thought Kuroda struggled with his command and left his pitches over the plate, but the catcher wasn’t ready to draw too many conclusions from the staff’s slow start.
“It’s too early,” Martin said. “We’re not going to be in panic mode. I trust our pitching staff. We have a good one. These are just some little bumps along the way right now, but I have complete confidence.”
The problems might not seem as acute if the Yankees had been able to recover, which they seemed on the verge of doing more than once.
Even in the first, after scoring three times, Eric Chavez — filling in for Alex Rodriguez who grounded out to third base as a pinch hitter in the ninth — hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
They wasted another opportunity in the fourth and again in the seventh when Nick Swisher, who had a two-run single earlier, struck out with runners on the corners.
“It seemed like we were one hit short,” Girardi said.
That was certainly the case in the ninth. After Derek Jeter hit his fourth homer of the season and Curtis Granderson struck out, Teixeira came up against closer Matt Capps.
“I just got under it,” said Teixeira, who looked good at the plate for one of the first times this season. “If it was a hair lower, we’d still be playing right now.”
But if it wasn’t for Kuroda poor start, it may not have come to that.
dan.martin@nypost.com
Hiroki Kuroda, Mark Teixeira, the Yankees, Russell Martin, Russell Martin, Joe Girardi, Justin Morneau, American League, the Angels
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