Hiroki Kuroda Hurt As Yankees Fall to Red Sox

Things have gone from bad to worse for the New York Yankees. In their ugly 7-4 loss to the Red Sox, Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda was forced to leave in the second with an injured hand.

Kuroda appeared to get injured when he attempted to snag a line drive off the bat of Shane Victorino with his bare hand. Kuroda, who won 16 games last season, attempted to stay in the game but hit two of the next four batters and allowed a walk to Jacoby Ellsbury before getting the hook. According to the club, the righty suffered and middle finger contusion and will be evaluated further.

The Yankees found themselves in a big hole early, giving up six runs in the first three innings, capped by Ellsbury’s two run single to center field. Travis Hafner attempted to rally the troops with his first home run as a Yankee, but Clay Buchholz bounced back and limited New York to just one run in seven innings of work.

In the 8^th inning the Yankees offense showed some signs of life as Vernon Wells plated three with a line drive home run to left. The homer cut the Red Sox lead to three, but unfortunately that would be as close as they’d come to tying the game.

Aside from the power displayed by new Yankees Hafner and Wells, the biggest positive to be taken from this game was the stellar performance of Adam Warren in long relief. Warren gave up just 1 run in 5 1/3 innings, helping Joe Girardi conserve his bullpen on a frosty night in the Bronx.