The Yankees scored nine runs, hit three homers and had Michael Pineda on the mound Friday night.
None of it was enough to prevent a fourth straight loss.
They were hoping a return home would help their fortunes after a disappointing road trip that saw them fall out of first place for the first time in a month.
Instead, they fell just short, dropping a 10-9 decision, wasting three-run shots by Didi Gregorius and Garrett Jones, as well as a solo shot by Mark Teixeira off Ross Ohlendorf in the bottom of the ninth.
Brian McCann struck out before Chase Headley walked in the final inning. Stephen Drew’s comebacker bounced off Ohlendorf and went to second, where Thomas Field made the play to end the drama.
Perhaps most distressing was another lackluster outing by Pineda, who just two starts ago looked as if he was ready to deliver on the promise he has teased the Yankees with over the last year.
“It is tough,” McCann said following the Yankees’ eighth loss in nine games. “He’s been so lights out for so long. Starts like this happen.”
Pineda surrendered seven runs in the third to seemingly give the Yankees no chance, but the offense rallied for four in the fourth.
He managed to get through the sixth without being scored on again, but Chasen Shreve and David Carpenter faltered out of the bullpen and Texas took a 10-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Jones hit a three-run, pinch-hit homer to get the Yankees back into the game, but they couldn’t catch Texas.
A lot of that is on Pineda, who might not be ready for that ace title just yet.
He has now followed up his two brilliant outings against the Blue Jays and Orioles with a pair of clunkers, although he managed to recover enough to last six innings and not give up any more runs.
Since Pineda struck out 16 against Baltimore, the right-hander has surrendered a dozen runs in 11 ¹/₃ innings and fanned only five.
Manager Joe Girardi doesn’t think the 16-strikeout game took something out of Pineda.
“He wasn’t overworked,” Girardi said.
On Friday, though, he struggled with location again.
“He wasn’t real sharp and got beat a lot with his fastball,” Girardi said. “It’s no secret. Pitching is about location and changing speeds. When you miss spots at this level, you’re gonna get hit.”
And he got hit. After a single and a walk to start the third, Pineda made a throwing error after hesitating on a bunt by Thomas Field to load the bases. Gregorius followed by making another error.
“I tried to get the lead out and go to the plate,” Gregorius said of Delino DeShields’ grounder to his right.
“It was a bad mistake.”
“He probably tried to do too much,” Girardi said.
Two runs scored on the play, and then Prince Fielder added a three-run homer before Mitch Moreland hit a solo shot.
Gregorius got the Yankees back in the game with his first homer of the year to cut the lead to 7-4.
Fielder’s second homer of the night, a blast to center off Shreve in the seventh, put the Rangers back up by four runs.
The Rangers added two more in the eighth to extend their cushion before Jones put another scare into Texas with his first homer as a Yankee.
It wasn’t enough, and with the Rays winning again, the Yankees fell 1 ½ games behind them. They had spent a month atop the AL East before Tampa Bay passed them on Thursday.