Yanks blame pitcher Bullington for loss against Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Alex Rodriguez could not recapture the magic he found Saturday.

Of course, few of his teammates had much success Sunday against Bryan Bullington, either.

Rodriguez, less than a day after going 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBIs, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the Yankees' 1-0 loss to the Royals.

Rodriguez's hardest-hit ball came in the second when he flew out to the warning track in center, a ball he and Joe Girardi thought was gone at the crack of the bat.

But hard-hit balls by the Yankees were a rarity Sunday, with Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner providing their only two hits, both clean singles.

"He was good today," Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-4, said of Bullington, the first overall pick of the 2002 draft by the Pirates whom the Royals signed as a minor-league free agent last November. "It's not like we came in here struggling with the bats. He threw the ball well. He didn't fall behind too many people and he worked quick. He did a good job."

Rodriguez credited Bullington, but wasn't as impressed.

"This guy was very transparent," A-Rod said. "He was very aggressive, was throwing four-seamers all over the strike zone. I think when you have a crafty lefty who can throw changeups and sink it and cuts it, that potentially can be an excuse. But today there's no excuse. He got the best of us."

A-Rod said the main reason was Bullington getting ahead "0-1," though it probably only seemed that way because the righthander - who was actually ahead 0-and-1 to just nine of the 25 batters he faced - had few three-ball counts.

Regardless, Bullington added his name to the list of pitchers the Yankees have seen for the first time this season and been bewildered by, a list that includes the Orioles' Jake Arrieta, the Indians' Josh Tomlin and the Angels' Sean O'Sullivan .

"We have a great lineup, there's no doubt about it, but the old adage good pitching beats good hitting is true," said Lance Berkman, who went 0-for-2 against Bullington, leaving the game after hurting his ankle while trying to beat out a double-play grounder. "We're not robots and even though you've got a collection of some of the best hitters in the game, if a guy comes out and it's his day, then this can happen to you. That's baseball."

Jeter said there wasn't much talk in the dugout about Bullington after unsuccessful half-innings against him.

"It was just, 'Get him next inning,'" Jeter said. "We ran out of innings."