NEW YORK — The Yankees’ record-setting errorless streak ended at 18 games when catcher Jorge Posada threw the ball into center field on Elvis Andrus’ fourth-inning steal of second base in Tuesday night’s game against Texas.
Posada’s error, which allowed Andrus to take third, was the first for New York since shortstop Ramiro Pena misplayed a grounder by the Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista at Toronto on May 13.
New York broke the previous major league mark of 17 games, set by the Boston Red Sox from June 11-30, 2006.
“It was not something I was aware of until yesterday, so shame on me, I guess,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before the game. “Obviously there is going to be another error at some point, but I think the consistency of your defense can play the whole season. A lot of it is mental preparation, I believe, and physical preparation. Defense is one of those things that you can control, a lot better than maybe some of the other parts of the game.”
New York began the night with a .989 fielding percentage, second in the AL behind Minnesota’s .990.
“We’re not giving teams a whole lot of extra outs and, as we all know in the American League, extra outs can lead to big innings, and that’s dangerous,” Girardi said.
Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte credited much of the defensive improvement to the addition of first baseman Mark Teixeira, a two-time Gold Glove winner.
“How many runs has he saved already this year on balls that might have got down the line or balls that got by him that could have scored runs?” Pettitte said. “It’s been a huge asset to this team, already.”
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