NEW YORK -- The rookie pitcher that couldn't be touched, Daniel Bard, has finally hit a little bit of a wall as the intensity and ante were noticeably raised over the last week. Bard has now blown his first two career saves in the last seven days while attempting to bridge the gap to Jonathan Papelbon in crucial games against Tampa Bay and the Yankees.

Here are Bard's thoughts after giving up big home riuns to Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira during Sunday' night's fourth and final loss to the Bronx Bombers -- a defeat that puts the Sox 6 1/2 games back in the AL East and into a deadlock with the Texas Rangers for the AL Wild Card spot.

What happened on the two home runs?
Bard: They weren’t terrible pitches. The count was in Damon’s favor, 1-0, and I think I’ve gotten a little comfortable that guys are going to swing and miss on balls down the middle in the those counts. I think I got a little comfortable. It wasn’t a terrible pitch, but that’s where he likes it. It was down and in and he sat on it and did a good job with it.
 
Again, I think (Teixeira) was sitting on it. The swing that he put on it and he timed it as good as he can. We go backdoor with the first one, got a called strike one and we got ahead. I haven’t doubled up on the breaking ball much at all this year, so we figured he wouldn’t have been sitting on it that very next pitch. I was thinking I should go in with it, and I got it in but maybe a little bit up. He was sitting on it and hit it well.

Is this going to be a tough one to shake off? 
Bard: It’s part of baseball. We’re going to have ups and downs. I’m not perfect. I had a string of a lot of good innings in a row and I knew it was going to come to an end eventually. What better way than here against the Yankees? No, like I said there are ups and downs. I’m not going to change everything because they weren’t terrible pitches. Its two really good hitters that sat on the right pitch at the right time.
 
It’s tough. That was a big inning, this was a big game for our team. My job was get the ball to Pap with a lead, and I didn’t do it. I’ll go about my business tomorrow, and take the ball the next time they give it to me and try to do the same thing.

Are you looking forward to getting right back out there? 
Bard: It’s always good to make sure that the last one, that’s not stuck in your mind. I’ll take the same approach into my next outing and hope the results are a little better.
 
Do you change anything after an outing like that?
Bard: I’m going to take the same approach. A lot of times the result is out of pitcher’s control. You can be making great pitches and getting hit, or making terrible pitches and getting away with them. Sometimes that’s how it rolls. But I’ll probably be a little more careful about leaving pitches down the middle because the hitters are that good.
 
It seemed all that more stunning because you were cruising through the inning.
Bard: That’s one of the things. You get two quick out and you want to get your team right back into the dugout. That’s the worse thing you can do is get two quick outs and then walk a guy or fall behind. I went 1-0 Damon and trying to stay in the count, so I attacked him with another fastball. But I couldn’t get back in the count, so that was my approach.
 
What were you thinking as you walked off the mound?
Bard: It was kind of a whirlwind of stuff. More than anything I’m just disappointed in the results. Not devastated or anything. I’ll get back on it tomorrow.
 
 

 

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