You could tell that the Yankees had to do damage against Romero in the first or he would shut them down - and that's what happened. Despite two walks, a balk and a single in the first frame, Romero held the Yanks scoreless thanks to the first of three blown calls: Jeter stole third base, the throw beat him, he slid around the tag, and was called out. Jeter argued (something he never does), which was our first indication the call was missed. Nick Swisher followed with a single.
The second blown call came when Jeter threw from the hole to second-base on a force-out. I could tell even without the replay that the runner was out. The call was safe, so of course, two batters later, Alex Rios hit a three-run jack. (Though it was hardly a 'jack,' landing in the first row of the left-field seats - a Yankee Stadium Special.)
The third blown call occurred in the seventh, when Eric Hinske was called out running to second because Marco Scutaro stepped on came within the vicinity of the bag. This was the most egregious of the missed calls; Scutaro wasn't even close to touching the base. Instead of bases loaded, no one out, it was two runners on, one out.
What are the odds that all the blown calls in a game go against one team? Usually they even out, but not today. And I don't like blaming the umps, but when they screw up, they deserve it (just as we criticize players for screwing up). What happens if one of those calls goes the other way? Do the Yankees win? They lost by one run, so it's far from inconceivable.
If only umpires were given the same access to video review as everyone at home; but that's a discussion for another time.
Andy Pettitte and Brian Bruney were terrible: they combined to give up seven runs in 6.2 innings. What looked like meaningless runs when Bruney allowed Toronto's sixth and seventh runs turned out to be huge. Teixeira really killed the offense, going 0-5, and is now firmly in a slump. 2-11 w/ RISP and 20 left on base overall.
I know we should be happy to take three out of four, but I'm greedy - I wanted the sweep. And we probably should have had it.