NEW YORK — The Yankees ended the first regular season
at their new $1.5 billion ballpark the same way they began — with a loss.
Joba Chamberlain lasted just 3 2/3 innings in his final
tuneup for the postseason and was booed by fans at Yankee Stadium when he walked
off Wednesday night during the Kansas City Royals' 4-3 win over New York.
Derek Jeter homered leading off the first, and Nick
Swisher's 29th homer tied the score in the fifth, a two-run drive off Robinson
Tejeda.
Kansas City broke a seventh-inning tie when Mark Teahen
walked against Damaso Marte (1-3) and John Buck tripled off Sergio Mitre on a
catchable drive that Swisher got turned around on and then fell down. Yuniesky
Betancourt followed with a missed a squeeze bunt, and Buck was tagged out by
catcher Jorge Posada.
Jamey Wright (3-5) pitched two innings for the win in
relief off Robinson Tejeda, and Joakim Soria got three outs for his 30th save in
33 chances, stopping the Yankees' seven-game winning streak. After Betancourt's
throwing error from shortstop put runners on second and third with two outs in
the ninth, Ramiro Pena flied out to shallow center.
New York opened the ballpark on April 16 with a 10-2 loss
to Cleveland but went on to finish 57-24 (.704) at new Yankee Stadium, the
third-highest winning percentage since 1901 for a team in a first-year ballpark,
according to STATS LLC. The Boston Red Sox were 57-20 (.740) with one tie in
1912 at Fenway Park, and the Boston Somersets were 49-20 (.710) in 1901 at the
Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds.
Hoping to be the Yankees' No. 4 starter in the AL
championship series and World Series, Chamberlain had a dreadful two-month
stretch starting in mid-August, going 0-4 with 8.42 ERA in eight starts. After
receiving a warning that he said "was a little bit more stern" from manager Joe
Girardi and coaches early last week, he rebounded to beat Boston on Friday.
"It's important that he has a good start," Girardi said
Wednesday. "He had a good start last time and he's had good starts during the
year, but we want him to have another good start because there are decisions
that still have to be made."
Girardi didn't give the pitcher another warning.
"I think the message was clear. I think he understood
the message that, you know, we needed to see him better," the manager said. "I
mean, it was only seven, eight days ago that we had it."
Chamberlain allowed three runs, seven hits and four
walks, throwing just 52 of 91 pitches for strikes and going to three-ball counts
on six of 22 batters.
He gave up run-scoring singles to Brayan Pena in the
first, Teahen in the third and another to Pena that finished his night in the
fourth. It could have been worse: the Royals loaded the bases with one out in
the second before Tug Hulett popped out and Billy Butler flied out.
When Girardi finally came to the mound, Chamberlain
headed back to the dugout with his head bowed, then while in foul territory
looked up toward the stands.
Notes
Yankee Stadium finished with its first season
with a major league-leading 237 home runs, tied for the 18th-most during one
season at a major league ballpark, STATS LLC said. New York hit 136 home runs at
home, matching the eighth-highest total in big league history. … Home
attendance was an AL-high 3.72 million, down 13 percent from last year's 4.29
million at old Yankee Stadium, which had a bigger capacity. … New York started
all its regulars for the first time since clinching the AL East on Sunday, but
started pulling some after the sixth inning. Girardi plans to use his regulars
Friday at Tampa Bay when CC Sabathia goes for his 20th win. … Kansas City ends
the season with a three-game series at the Metrodome, which closes after this
season. … Freddy Guzman, trying to make the Yankees' postseason roster as a
pinch runner, was thrown out trying to steal second by Buck in the seventh
inning.