New York, New York: Yankees Win Two Of Three After Rangers Fail To Make Early Lead Stand Up

D-tails: (Yankees 8, Rangers 6)
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot live game blog
• Radio voice Eric Nadel to miss time with torn retina; Nadel’s email

NEW YORK - It is entirely possibly the ball New York outfielder Melky Cabrera hit for a game-changing home run Thursday was one of those that got caught in the freakish jet stream that has made new Yankee Stadium a home run haven.

Yeah, and like that meant a lot to C.J. Wilson, who authored the eighth-inning changeup that became the difference in an 8-6 Yankees win over the Rangers.

“It was a bad pitch,” Wilson said, perched atop the chair at his locker. “The stadium doesn’t matter. My main goal was to make a good pitch and I didn’t make one.”

Less than 24 hours after he dazzled and overwhelmed Alex Rodriguez in a key eighth-inning situation, Wilson couldn’t repeat the feat against the bottom half of the Yankees lineup.

Called on with the score tied at six, Wilson immediately walked No. 5 hitter Robinson Cano on a full-count pitch, then got Hideki Matsui on a fly ball to center field. He had the count at 1-and-1 on Cabrera when he tried to throw a changeup down and in. He got the “in” part right, but left too much of the pitch in the hitting zone and Cabrera turned on it. It just cleared the glove of leaping LF David Murphy to change the game. Murphy had timed the leap perfectly and extended well above the left field wall, but still came away with only the same empty feeling that followed the Rangers out of Yankee Stadium.

The Rangers had a chance to make a statement in the series and missed doing so by the same tiny distance that separated Murphy’s glove from a spectacular catch on the home run ball.

“It would have meant a lot to win this game and this series,” Murphy said. “It would have made for really good morale going into Boston. But it’s still early June and we can’t dwell on one loss or one series too much. Today hurts, but tomorrow is a new day. We can’t afford to let one day carry over into another.”

The Rangers had tied the series at a game apiece on Wednesday night when starter Scott Feldman and Wilson teamed up to flummox Rodriguez in three crucial situations.

And they began Thursday right where they left off Wednesday. They built a 5-1 lead and starter Brandon McCarthy seemed to be heading towards his third consecutive impressive win. And then, all the crucial moments – and momentum – seemed to go in the opposite direction.

On Wednesday, for example, when starter Scott Feldman appeared headed for trouble, a big inning was avoided when a Yankee slugger squibbed a ball down third base line and Michael Young turned it into huge double play. On Thursday, after McCarthy allowed hits to the bottom two hitters in the Yankees lineup to start the fifth, he followed it with consecutive walks to Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher (the latter forcing in a run).

Then, with the bases loaded, Mark Teixeira hit a similar ball to the one Young turned into a double play on Wednesday. Perhaps it was hit a bit harder and Young was playing a little deeper with a three-run lead. So when he went to field the ball – having no shot at a double play – it spun away from him and turned into a game-tying three-run double.

On Wednesday, when Wilson had to get the big outs in the eighth inning, he did.

On Thursday, not so much.