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DENVER -- As difficult as it may be to believe, the New York Yankees lost a game at Coors Field in which their starting pitcher allowed just two runs.

Almost as equally difficult to believe is that in a ballpark that is still conducive to the home run and high-scoring games remain the rule, not the exception, Tuesday's game between the Yankees and the Colorado Rockies was decided by a single pitch, a 3-2 fastball from Hiroki Kuroda in the sixth inning that drifted over the plate to Carlos Gonzalez, who airmailed it into the Rockies' bullpen for what proved to be the game-winning hit.

But the real story of Tuesday's game was not Kuroda, who has been the Yankees' best starting pitcher by far over the first 30 games of the season, or one bad pitch.

It was that the Yankees' lineup could not manage to score one run, let alone the three needed for victory, in a park known as a launching pad and against a pitcher (Jorge De La Rosa) making just his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Kuroda -- who had not lost since the second game of the season on April 3, and whose ERA (2.30) is a full run lower than the next best Yankees starter (CC Sabathia) -- paid not only for his mistake but for the feebleness of the Yankees' lineup, which resembled something you might see in a split-squad game in spring training.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi gave Brett Gardner the night off, and with Kevin Youkilis having joined Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira on the DL, and Eduardo Nunez's rib cage still too sore for him to play, the Yankees essentially were starting backups in place of backups: Jayson Nix for Nunez, Chris Nelson for Youkilis, Ben Francisco for Gardner.

And against a lefty with a good changeup like De La Rosa's, that lineup was beaten nearly before the game began. The Yankees managed just four singles all game -- Nix had two of them -- and a total of six baserunners with walks to Francisco and Gardner, who hit for Francisco in the seventh. The Yankees didn't help themselves by going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, but to be fair, two of the Yankees' best opportunities of the game -- Nix reached third base in the first inning and Chris Stewart made it that far in the fifth -- came with two outs and no margin for error.

"Some nights you're just not going to hit," Girardi said, and that is certainly true.

"I think people always remember what it used to be like here," Girardi said. "But it seems like you see some closer games now.”

Closer, maybe, but not much lower scoring. Even though they now cook the baseballs in a humidor at Coors Field to try to counteract the effect of the thin mile-high air, a total of 153 runs had been scored in the first 15 games at Coors, or an average of about 10 per game.

So while the Yankees have played remarkably well so far this season despite all their injuries -- the loss dropped them to 18-13 -- and their record against left-handed starters is a surprising 8-4, it is clear that Girardi's right-handed hitting batting order is not exactly Murderer's Row.

Francisco is still mired in a slump, with his .129 batting average. Vernon Wells has cooled somewhat from his excellent start and his average is now down to .270. Even with his two hits Tuesday, Nix is batting .241. And teams have absolutely no incentive to pitch to Robinson Cano, the only consistently dangerous bat in their lineup. Incredibly, Stewart's .261 batting average was the fourth-highest in the Yankees' batting order.

"We wasted whatever opportunities that we had," Wells said. "It’s hard to win games when you get four hits and don’t put any runs up on the board. Kuroda threw well. We just couldn’t do anything to support him."

CLEVELAND -- Crisis? What crisis?

What it means: That the New York Yankees, who were a disaster on Saturday, are officially a hot club on Monday, riding a two-game winning streak after an 11-6 win that spoiled the Cleveland Indians' home opener and wiping the smile off Nick Swisher's face, for one day at least.

Welcome back, Robby: Robinson Cano finally began his regular season, belting solo homers in the fifth and sixth innings. Cano also had a double, a walk and scored four runs, and raised his average to .231. If the Yankees hope to do anything this season, this better be only the beginning for Cano.

Pronks Cheer: Travis Hafner was cheered upon his return to Cleveland, where he played 10 seasons, but the cheers turned to jeers when Pronk drove one over the center-field fence with two men on, giving the Yankees a 3-0 first-inning lead. It was his 100th career home run at Progressive Field -- but first as a member of the visiting team.

Hafner made more frenemies in the third when he lined a single to center field with Cano (leadoff double) aboard to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Hafner now leads the team with six RBIs.

Wild Men: Both Hiroki Kuroda and Ubaldo Jimenez struggled through control problems in the first inning. Each walked two batters, each allowed three first-inning runs, and the two needed a combined 61 pitches to get out of the inning. Manager Joe Girardi had Shawn Kelley warming up in the first inning, but incredibly, Kuroda recovered from that first inning and worked into the sixth without allowing another run.

Swish-Direction: Great play by Swisher in the first inning in which he hesitated in the baseline just long enough to confuse Lyle Overbay and Cano, causing Michael Brantley's bouncer to skip past them for a single that scored Asdrubal Cabrera from second and allowed Swisher to go all the way to third in the Indians' three-run first.

In a Stew: Chris Stewart manufactured the Yankees' fifth run nearly single-handedly, singling with two out in the fourth and stealing second -- the Indians were so surprised, catcher Carlos Santana didn't even bother to throw -- and scoring on Brett Gardner's looper to short center.

Off the rails: The game spun out of control in the seventh inning when the Yankees added three more runs to go up 11-3, with the help of a walk, a throwing error, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.

Kelley Green: Kelley had a horrendous eighth inning, allowing a double, triple, two-run homer and two wild pitches to give the Indians three runs.

JoBBa: Working with a five-run lead, Joba Chamberlain walked two batters and had to face Mark Reynolds with two out in the ninth, causing Girardi to make a visit to the mound and closer Mariano Rivera to get up in the bullpen. Joba wound up striking out Reynolds to end the game after a crisp 3 hours, 50 minutes.

What's coming: A story on Cano's resurgence, a blog on Hafner's happy homecoming, as well as assorted blogs out of the postgame clubhouse.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Yankees lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0, at The Boss in the first of two split-squad games Saturday. (The second is against the Braves at Disney at 5:05 p.m.)

It was notable for a few reasons: Hiroki Kuroda's longest outing of the spring, Derek Jeter's first time playing shortstop on consecutive days, and a rarity from Mariano Rivera.

HIRO SANDWICH: Kuroda worked six full innings and threw 68 pitches, which, with two more starts slated here before the club heads nort,h puts him right on track for the start of the season. That's the good news.

The bad news is that after three strong innings -- he retired the first seven Phillies he faced -- Kuroda got hit hard in the fourth after second baseman Gil Velazquez booted what could have been an inning-ending double-play ball. The next hitter, Domonic Brown, crushed a three-run homer, and a triple by Jermaine Mitchell and a hard RBI single by Yuniesky Betancourt gave the Phils a 4-0 lead.

CAPTAIN CAMEO: In his first time playing back-to-back games at shortstop this spring, Jeter lashed a double to right-center to lead off the Yankees' first, fielded one routine grounder in the second, struck out in the third and then departed after the fourth inning.

Joe Girardi said Jeter's early exit was planned beforehand. "Next time I'll try to maybe go six and five, and just keep trying to increase it,"' Girardi said. "We'll see. I've got to see how he's doing. We've got to be somewhat still cautious with him."

WHAT WAS THAT? Rivera needed 17 pitches to get through the seventh inning, uncharacteristically went to full counts on two hitters and even walked one. But what caught Girardi's attention was one pitch Mo threw to Steven Lerud.

"He actually threw a ball in the dirt," Girardi said. "Me and Jorge (Posada) were commenting on it. You never see him throw a ball in the dirt. He was just a little rusty."

Mo laughed it off, saying he was rushing his mechanics a little. "Most of the time it's not gonna be like that," he said.

Mariano will work again in relief of Andy Pettitte in a minor-league game here on Monday.

CUT-DOWN DAY: The Yankees reassigned OFs Zoilo Almonte and Slade Heathcott to the minor-league complex. Heathcott is still troubled by patellar tendinitis in his left knee and would have been shut down for an indefinite period anyway.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Before the Yankees bring back Scott Brosius, let's get to some afternoon notes:

1.) HIRO PERFORMANCE: Hiroki Kuroda continues to look very good this spring. He pitched four scoreless innings against the Cardinals and allowed just three hits, walking none while striking out six. He already looks ready for the regular season.

"I'm getting there,: Kuroda said.

2.) TRUE YANKEE: In the fourth, Kevin Youkilis hit an absolute bomb of a homer run. As he rounded the bases you could hear a lot of, "Yoooooooooooooooouk," in the crowd.

Youkilis also played first on Monday. Since he won a Gold Glove at the position in 2007, there is no question he can play it; Joe Girardi just wants him to get some reps there.

3.) FRANCISCO TREAT: Girardi said new acquisition Ben Francisco will have a "chance" to make this team because he hits lefties well. In his career, Francisco has a .743 OPS vs. lefties and a .755 OPS against righties.

4.) WHO'S THAT? During warmups, there was a No. 98, who was noticeably behind the rest of the group during running drills.

Who was it? Al Roker, who was filming a segment for his Weather Channel show and "Today."

5.) BROSIUS: Just to make sure there is no Twitter eruption, I was kidding about Brosius.

TAMPA, Fla. -- No big news this morning, just little things that you had to watch for. For instance:

1. GRANDERSON HITS, GIRARDI WATCHES: Center fielder Curtis Granderson, who struggled through 2012 despite leading the team with 43 home runs, had a session in the indoor batting cage this morning and Joe Girardi, who normally wanders out to the back field to watch the pitchers, came down to keep an eye on Grandy instead. And in between rounds -- he alternated with Dan Johnson -- Granderson and Girardi engaged in what appeared to be pretty serious conversation.

Afterward, Girardi wouldn't give me anything about what went on except to say, "You have a keen eye." Oh, yeah, and to remind me not to post the muscle-up video.

Later, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweeted that Grandy would take fly balls in left field today. So that's what that was all about.

2. KURODA ON THE HILL: Hiroki Kuroda will throw a round of live BP at 12:15 p.m. on the main field at Steinbrenner to a group that includes Granderson, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki and Juan Rivera. None of the other starters or relievers is slated to throw BP today.

3. PHELPS ON TRACK TO START SATURDAY: David Phelps and Adam Warren are throwing side sessions this morning, and assuming both go OK, Phelps will start Saturday's preseason opener against the Braves in Kissimmee and Warren will start Sunday against the Blue Jays at The Boss.

4. NO, TAGUCHI! That was the New York Post headline the morning of Oct. 14, 2006, when So Taguchi, then of the St. Louis Cardinals, belted a ninth-inning home run off Billy Wagner to start the Mets on the road to ruin in the NLCS. Well, Taguchi, now 43 and retired, was in the Yankees' clubhouse this morning, chatting up his Japanese countryman Kuroda. Wonder if Taguchi will stop at St. Lucie while he's in Florida.

... Rafael Soriano.

With the AL and NL Cy Youngs being awarded on Wednesday, we are doling out our own award for the Yankees. Soriano gets the nod over CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda. Soriano's 42 saves in 46 chances -- beginning in May -- might make him the team's MVP (Tune in on Thursday to find out).

With David Robertson still an unknown in the ninth, Soriano might have been the difference in a division title and the wild card.

Sabathia and Kuroda deserved serious consideration, as well. If you want to make the starters-are-more-important-than relievers argument, I can understand that. But how do you choose between the two?

Kuroda (16-11) had more wins than Sabathia (15-6), while they basically had the same ERA. Kuroda finished at 3.32 compared to Sabathia's 3.38. Kuroda was a bit more durable, with 219 2/3 innings to Sabathia's 200.

In the end, Soriano's the choice for the Yankees' 2012 Cy Young.

Question: Who do you think was the Yankees' best pitcher in '12?

... will come while he is in an airplane somewhere between Indian Wells, Ca., and New York City as he travels home from the GM meetings Friday afternoon.

By 5 p.m. on Friday, the three pending free agents to whom the Yankees have made qualifying offers -- Rafael Soriano, Nick Swisher and Hiroki Kuroda -- must inform the team whether they will accept a one-year deal at $13.3 million or enter the marketplace.

And once those decisions are in, GM Brian Cashman can get on with his life of deciding how to repopulate the Yankees roster for 2013.

"It’s helpful information, there’s no doubt about it," he said. "We’ll learn a lot after tomorrow."

Specifically, he will know if he is shopping for a new set-up man/closer, a new right fielder and a new starting pitcher. The likely answers, in order, are definitely, definitely and (surprisingly) quite possibly.

There's little doubt that both Soriano and Swisher will decline the offer. And judging by the talk going around the GM meetings -- that several teams are interested in offering two-year deals to the 37-year-old pitcher -- Kuroda, too, may turn down what would amount to a $3 million raise over his 2012 salary.

Cashman said he did not know which of the three would or would not accept the offers. "I haven’t asked," he said. "I’ve got no idea on what that side of the fence does. It’s all new. We’d be very happy (for them to accept), let’s put it that way. It will certainly dictate and affect how we move forward one way or the other."

Scott Boras, Soriano's agent, sidestepped a direct question about whether his client would accept the Yankees' qualifying offer but his answer said it all: "Most qualifying offers are really for players of the highest value. When teams make them, they’re acknowledging the value and other teams know that, as well. I don’t anticipate many players accepting single-year contracts that are in that arena."

So that's that.

Cashman did not rule out the possibility of the Yankees carrying both Soriano and Mariano Rivera, both at closer-level salaries, for 2013. "It's happened before," he said, referring to the original deal that he was so vocally and publicly against when Soriano joined the team in 2011.

But he also refused to commit saying he needing to replace Soriano, even as a set-up man, in his bullpen.

"I do like what we have," hed said. "I think Joba (Chamberlain) is going to be really good for us. I think David Robertson, obviously, we already know how good he is, but I think Boone Logan has been very underrated. I think Clay Rapada was a huge addition for us. And I think David Aardsma, a former closer with Seattle, will serve us well. So do we have to replace Soriano? Hard to say. Let’s first find out if he’s not even with us, I guess."

That moment of clarity will come at 5 p.m. tomorrow, while Cashman heads home to plan his next move.

Here are the Yankee players who will either be free agents, or have club options on their serivices for next year:

FREE AGENTS

Nick Swisher
Russell Martin
Hiroki Kuroda
Andy Pettitte
Mariano Rivera
Ichiro Suzuki
Raul Ibanez
Derek Lowe
Eric Chavez
Andruw Jones
Freddy Garcia

CLUB OPTIONS

Robinson Cano ($14 million or $2 million buyout)
Curtis Granderson ($13 million, $2 million buyout)

PLAYER OPTION

Rafael Soriano (owed $14 million for 2013, or can take $1.5 million buyout and become a free agent).

How many of these guys would you bring back?

1. KURODA'S GEM: Hiroki Kuroda's teammates could not have asked for more from the veteran, who made the first start of his career on three days' rest in Game 2 of the ALCS on Sunday.

He certainly can ask them to give him some help, though.

Kuroda pitched a fantastic game as the hard-luck loser in Sunday's game. He was tagged for three runs in 7 2/3 innings, but pitched better than his final line indicated, as he struck out 11.

"Looking at some of the games recently, I knew it was going to be really close, I had to minimize the damage," Kuroda said through a translator.

2. JETER NOT THERE: The Yankees played without shortstop Derek Jeter and his teammates acknowledged it wasn't the same without their captain in the dugout. Jeter fractured his left ankle Saturday and was not at the Stadium and won't travel with the team to Detroit.

"Of course it's different. He's your captain and such a huge part of the team," Yankees outfielder Raul Ibanez said. "At the same time we got to battle back and pull together and do this together."

3. NO PLAY FOR TEX: In the seventh inning with the game scoreless and runners on first and third with one out, Delmon Young hit a ball near the seats in the foul territory diagonal from first base. First baseman Mark Teixeira ran over and seemed to have a play on the ball, but a fan got in the way.

Teixeira didn't make much of a deal about the play.

"There's a guy on third there so if I catch it and fall into the stands, he might score anyway," Teixeira said. "I don't think it was a big play in the game."

4. LONG STILL HAS FAITH: Yankees batters haven't given hitting coach Kevin Long any reason to have faith in them, but he still believes his group will put it all together. The Yankees have scored in just one of the 21 innings of the ALCS.

"It's not over. I know that things don't look good right now, but I believe in my guys," Long said. "Like I said, it's an uphill battle and it's not going to get any easier, but there's some fight left. We'll find a way to get it done."

5. VERLANDER ON TAP: The Yankees didn't do themselves any favors falling behind 0-2, as they will now have to try to right the ship against the AL's reigning MVP, Justin Verlander.

"It's a fun challenge. People think we're crazy to say that, but it is a fun challenge," Teixeira said. "If you're going to win a World Series you're going to have beat the best, and he's the best right now. So we're going to go into Detroit, the crowd's going to be rocking, they're going to be cheering for their own team and we have an opportunity to do something special and win a few games out there."

Hiroki Kuroda’s bid for perfection is over.

Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s single up the middle leading off the top of the sixth inning in Game 2 of the ALCS on Sunday afternoon ended Kuroda’s chance at becoming the second Yankees pitcher to ever throw a perfect game in the postseason.

Don Larsen accomplished the feat in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.

Kuroda struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced.

For more things to watch for, check out these pieces on the challenges posed by Miguel Gonzalez and the struggles of Alex Rodriguez.

Hiroki Kuroda vs. the Orioles
The biggest key for Kuroda could be his pitch location against the Orioles' lineup.

In his two starts against Baltimore this season, he had vastly different locations and vastly different results.

On April 30, Kuroda's pitch locations basically matched his season average. He threw to the outer-third or inner-third (or off the respective corners) 80 percent of the time and kept the ball out of the middle of the plate. The net result: seven innings pitched, one run allowed in a 2-1 win.

On Aug. 31, Kuroda left the ball over the middle-third of the plate (width-wise) much more often than usual. Of his 99 pitches, 29 were over the middle-third (the most such pitches he made in any start all season).

The Orioles got four hits against those pitches, including a J.J. Hardy home run, in a 4-1 win.

One other thing to watch from Kuroda:

In his last two starts of the season, right-handed hitters were 12-for-26 against him. During most of the regular season, Kuroda could count on getting a right-handed hitter (like Hardy, Mark Reynolds or Adam Jones) to chase pitches out of the zone at a rate of once for every three pitches he threw.

In those last two starts, he only got 10 chases on 47 such pitches (21 percent).

Kuroda and the long ball
Kuroda had a 4.63 ERA in his final seven starts, with seven home runs allowed in 44 2/3 innings. He was allowing a home run every 9.7 innings prior to this stretch.

Kuroda fared well in terms of keeping the ball in the park at Yankee Stadium, allowing 12 home runs in 132 1/3 innings

Kuroda's home-field advantage
For whatever reason, Kuroda's slider/splitter combo fared significantly better at Yankee Stadium than it did on the road.

Opponents hit only .162, with a 40 percent miss rate on their swings against that pitch combination in Yankees home games, compared to .279 with a 34 percent miss rate on the road.

Kuroda's playoff history
Kuroda has made three career playoff starts, two of which were very good and one that was awful. He beat the Cubs with 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the 2008 NLDS and beat the Phillies with six innings of two-run ball in that year's NLCS. The next year, he got pummeled by the Phillies in the NLCS, yielding six runs in 1 1/3 innings in Philadelphia.

Stat of the Day
The Yankees would have to lose twice at home to lose this series. Since the wild-card format began in 1995, the Yankees have only lost twice at home in an LDS.

They did so in 2001, losing the first two games to the Athletics before taking the next two in Oakland and the final one in the Bronx. And they did so last season against the Tigers, with the second loss being in the clinching Game 5.

Losing Game 2 to even an ALDS at 1-1 has not been a good omen for the Yankees lately.

Since 2002, the Yankees have lost each ALDS series in which they've gone up 1-0 and fallen in Game 2. In all of those series, they also lost Game 3.

As you know, the Yankees went ahead 1-0 against Baltimore only to fall in Game 2 as the bats went silent. It will now be up to Hiroki Kuroda to try and reverse the trend.

Here's a look at how those four series played out.

2011 ALDS (3-2 series loss to Tigers): The Yankees took a 1-0 lead behind Robinson Cano's bat, but they could not hit Max Scherzer in Game 2. Detroit took Game 3 and the Yankees forced a Game 5 at Yankee Stadium, but Ivan Nova gave up back-to-back homers in the first and the Yankees lost the series.

2006 ALDS (3-1 series loss to Tigers): The Yankees got off to a rousing start with an 8-4 win in Game 1, but Mike Mussina couldn't hold a 3-1 lead in Game 2 and the Yankees fell. The Yankees were shut out in Game 3 and Jaret Wright was rocked in Game 4 as the Yankees lost to the eventual World Series runner-up.

2005 ALDS (3-2 series loss to Angels): Yankees took Game 1 on the road but fell in Game 2 while making three errors. The Angels won Game 3 in a wild affair and the Yankees once again forced an elimination game. Despite Bartolo Colon lasting just one inning in Game 5, the Yankees couldn't muster enough offense and lost 5-3.

2002 ALDS (3-1 series loss to Angels): Yankees got off to a quick start by grabbing Game 1 but Orlando Hernandez faltered in Game 2. The Yankees blew a 6-1 lead in Game 3 and the Angels finished the job in Game 4 by putting up an eight-spot in the fifth inning.

The only thing we know for sure about Game 1 of the ALDS is that CC Sabathia will start it for the Yankees.

We don't know who the opponent wil be, and probably won't until about midnight Friday, when the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles settle the AL wild-card argument, and obviously we can't know who the opposing starter will be.

But we do know there will be Division Series games at the home of the wild-card winner Sunday and Monday, and then three at Yankee Stadium next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. And we know CC is going on Sunday.

The question is, who should start Game 2? According to the rotation, it should be Hiroki Kuroda, who worked in Wednesday night's regular-season finale against the Red Sox and would be scheduled to pitch next on Monday.

But what about Andy Pettitte? The Yankees had Pettitte ready to go to pitch in a potential tiebreaker game against the Orioles on Thursday, which turned out not to be necessary. Now, by the time the 40-year-old lefty's turn comes up again, he will have been inactive for nine days if he goes Monday, and a whopping 11 days if Joe Girardi decides to use him in Game 3.

The answer seems pretty simple to me. Both pitchers appear to be equally unaffected by extra rest -- and in fact, Pettitte pitched one of his best games of the year in his first start back after being sidelined for 11 weeks with a broken left ankle -- but Kuroda is a much different pitcher on the road than he is at home.

This year, Kuroda was 11-6 with a 2.72 ERA at Yankee Stadium, but only 5-5 with a 4.23 on the road, and one of those losses came at The Ballpark in Arlington.

That should be enough to persuade Girardi to throw Pettitte at whoever the opponent is in Game 2, and save Kuroda for Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.

As for Game 4, that's a whole nother issue. If the Yankees are trailing 1-2 and facing elimination, do you send Phil Hughes out to save the season? Or do you pitch CC on short rest and then have Pettitte, the winningest pitcher in postseason baseball history, go short in Game 5? Or ask Hughes to pitch you into the ALCS?

Thankfully, there are Girardi's problems, not ours, and he'll cross that bridge when and if he gets to it. Right now, all we know is there will be a Game 1 and Sabathia will pitch it, and there will be a Game 2, and Pettitte should pitch it.

Agree?

Hiroki Kuroda will have the Yankees' playoff fate in his right hand tonight, but he won't feel joy on the mound. Instead, he will feel responsibility. That's it.

“I’ve never enjoyed playing baseball; never enjoyed pitching, to be honest with you,” said Kuroda, whose training in Japan made baseball into more of a chore than a game. “Whether it’s a spring training game, a regular-season game, I put pressure on myself to be as normal as I can.”

Kuroda was speaking through a translator, but his words suggest he has a job to do in Game 162. So it is about fulfilling a commitment, not creating an everlasting memory.

"I’m not saying this because I’m with the Yankees,” Kuroda said. “This has been all throughout my professional career. There’s a lot of responsibility as a starting pitcher, so rather than enjoy myself out there, I feel like I have to fulfill my responsibilities and that’s my priority.”

In a story in the New York Times earlier this season, Kuroda detailed the struggle.

As a boy, he sneaked away from an abusive high school coach to gulp water from a polluted river. He saw some of his teammates, desperate with thirst, drink from a puddle, and he heard of others who would do so from a toilet.

Now, 20 years on, Hiroki Kuroda shook his head and actually laughed a little when recalling — and trying to explain — the hardships he endured as a boy trying to follow his father’s footsteps and play professional baseball in Japan.

“It was a generation,” Kuroda said through an interpreter, “when coaches believed you should not drink water.”

Hiroki Kuroda Stats To Watch
Kuroda needs one win to set a career high for wins in a season. His 13 wins include a gem against Boston on Aug. 19, in which he allowed one run and four hits in eight innings.

Kuroda did have a tough time in his lone start at Fenway Park this season, allowing seven runs in 5 2/3 innings on July 6.

The difference between the two starts was what the Red Sox did against Kuroda's fastball. In the game at Fenway, Kuroda got seven outs and gave up four hits with his heater. In that dominant start on the 19th, he got 14 outs with a fastball that Red Sox hitters were more willing to chase.

He got eight strikes on the 26 fastballs he threw outside the Pitch F/X strike zone, compared to one strike on 17 out-of-zone fastballs in that other start.

Jon Lester Stats To Watch
Lester is in the midst of a good run, having won four of his last five starts, including one against the Yankees on Aug. 18.

However, he's 3-8 with a 6.60 ERA and 13 home runs allowed in 88 2/3 innings at home this season.

Lester allowed 23 extra-base hits at home last season. He has given up 45 in 2012.

Playing the Binder: Swisher/Granderson vs Lester
Lester might be just the right pitcher for Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson to break out against.

Swisher is 9-for-16 against Lester over the last two seasons, after beginning his career 4-for-25 against him. The contact has been good, with six of the 13 balls hit being line drives.

Likewise, Granderson was 1-for-his-first-8 vs Lester, but is 7-for-20 against him since then, with two home runs (and 10 strikeouts). Of the 11 balls he has hit against Lester over the past two seasons, four were line drives.

Swisher is hitting .444 with five home runs against Red Sox pitching this season, 8-for-18 from each side of the plate.

Captain Crush
Derek Jeter is 14-for-28 with a 28 percent line-drive rate (seven line drives) in his last six games.

At this rate, Jeter, who has 3,279 career hits, should catch Willie Mays on the all-time hit list within a day or two. Mays has 3,283 career hits.

The luster has worn off
Red Sox rookie Pedro Ciriaco, who has a pair of four-hit games against the Yankees this season, is in a slump. He's 6-for-47 in his last 13 games.

You may remember we noted Ciriaco's amazing success against pitches out of the strike zone in the early part of this season, but that his dissipated. He's 1-for-his-last-16 in at-bats ending with a pitch out of the zone, after starting 2012 23-for-55.

Milestones of a different nature
My colleague in Stats & Info, Katie Sharp, checks in with these two notes

Yankees starters have allowed 132 home runs this year, one shy of the team record set in 2004.

Granderson has 168 strikeouts this season, one shy of the franchise record that he set last year.