Game recap: Yankees at Rockies 6/20/07

Coors Light (hitting)

Scoring two runs in 18 innings won't win you many games. Because of the offensive ineptitude at Coors Field, the Yankees have now lost a series for the first time since losing two of three to Toronto at the end of May.

The Yankees and Andy Pettitte (4-5) fell to Colorado by a score of 6-1 Wednesday night.

Jeff Francis (7-5) was able to keep the Yankees bats in check. He struck out a career-high nine Yankees in seven innings and only gave up five hits. Coors Field is supposed to be a hitter's paradise.

The Yankees actually did have the lead at one point in this game. In the sixth inning, Melky Cabrera hit a one-out single, followed by a Derek Jeter RBI double.

This lead quickly vanished. In the bottom half of the sixth, Matt Holliday hit a two-run home run. The damage could have been worse. After a Todd Helton double, Garrett Atkins hit a single to left. Helton was called out at home, but replays showed that he got his hand in just before the tag.

The game got out of hand in the seventh. The Rockies scored four runs with two outs. Troy Tulowitzki hit a one-out single, followed by a Yorvit Torrealba single. After a fielder's choice forced Torrealba out at second, Willy Taveras hit an RBI single. Kaz Matsui then hit a two-RBI triple which finally knocked out Pettitte.

Luis Vizcaino relieved Pettitte. He promptly let an inherited runner score on a Holliday single for the sixth and final run.

One of the problems with the Yankees' offense tonight was Andy Phillips batting in the eighth spot ahead of the pitcher. Three times tonight he made the final out of an inning, causing the pitcher to lead off in the next inning. Phillips grounding into a double play in the second inning also killed a potential rally.

With Boston winning, the Yankees now have themselves a double-digit deficit in the AL East race again. Detroit and Cleveland also both won, increasing their lead over the Yankees in the Wild Card.

Roger Clemens will pitch for the Yankees tomorrow afternoon to try to salvage one game from this series before traveling to San Francisco.