There are no medals for trying.
Last night’s 15-inning marathon at the Stadium might have rated as a classic for the Yankees, but the Red Sox didn’t view it in those terms.
“The losers go home feeling a little more tired,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said after his team’s 2-0 loss on Alex Rodriguez’s home run.
A moot point was J.D. Drew’s lunging catch in right field that kept the Red Sox alive in the 14th inning and the solid major league debut by pitcher Junichi Tazawa, who worked 1 2/3 shutout innings before surrendering the game-winning homer to Rodriguez.
It followed Josh Beckett’s seven scoreless innings and six more from the six relievers before Tazawa.
“From my perspective, we did a lot of good things pitching-wise,” said Jason Varitek, whose Red Sox fell 4 ½ games behind the Yankees in the AL East. “Our season is not over. We’ve got two months. And the good thing is what I saw pitching-wise. That is what’s going to push us over the hump.”
With runners on first and second in the 14th inning, Eric Hinske hit a shot toward the right-field corner that should have been the game winner. But Drew made a last-second lunge and made the catch, keeping Boston’s hopes alive.
“It was behind me,” Drew said. “I just extended as far as I could and behind me and found the ball right there.”
Melky Cabrera struck out against Tazawa to end the inning, before the Red Sox were retired in order in the 15th. Derek Jeter led off the bottom of the inning with a single, and with two outs, Rodriguez won it.
Considering the Red Sox got a single from Jacoby Ellsbury leading off the game against A.J. Burnett and then didn’t get another hit until David Ortiz’s single off Mariano Rivera in the ninth, maybe they should have considered themselves fortunate to have a shot.
“A pretty wild game,” Dustin Pedroia said. “I can’t believe both of our offenses didn’t score for that long.
“We played hard. This is a big win for them.”
mpuma@nypost.com
