Losing is one thing. Beating yourself is another. It's incomprehensible that the Red Sox could manage one measly hit in 13 chances with runners in scoring position (and that hit was from -- who else? -- the sublime Nomar Garciaparra). While some of that, and maybe even a lot of it, can be credited to superior Yankee pitching, the Sox had some terrible at-bats last night. In fact, Darren Lewis's one-pitch popup to shortstop with a runner at third and one out in the second, and Butch Huskey's head-flying, bailing-out strikeout with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth were among the worst examples of situational hitting I've seen from the Sox this year. Or any year.

The masochists among you may find this chart, which I put together for the newspaper, interesting. It lists each of the Sox' 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position last night:

FIRST INNING
-- O'Leary strikes out with runners at first
and second for third out. 0-for-1

SECOND INNING
-- Lewis pops to shortstop with runner at
third for second out. 0-for-2
-- Nixon flies to right with runner at third
for third out. 0-for-3

THIRD INNING
-- O'Leary strikes out with runners at first
and second for third out. 0-for-4

FOURTH INNING
-- Lewis strikes out with runner at second
for second out. 0-for-5
-- Nixon flies to center with runner at
second for third out. 0-for-6

FIFTH INNING
-- Valentin strikes out with runner at
second for first out. 0-for-7
-- Daubach pops to shortstop with runner
at second for second out. 0-for-8
-- Garciaparra hits a two-run homer
to left. 1-for-9 
-- Stanley strikes out with runner at
second for third out. 1-for-10

EIGHTH INNING
-- Stanley is hit by a pitch with a
runner at second and no outs.
-- Varitek sacrifices with runners at
first and second for first out.
-- Merloni is intentionally walked
with runners at second and third and one out.
-- Huskey strikes out with the bases loaded
for second out. 1-for-11
-- Offerman flies to center with the
bases loaded for third out. 1-for-12

NINTH INNING
-- Buford strikes out with runners at 
first and third for third out. 1-for-13

Sickening, isn't it?

Contrast that with the Yankees, who had five at-bats all night with runners in scoring position. Paul O'Neill flied to right with runners at first and second and two out in the third. In the seventh, Joe Girardi popped to Offerman with a man on second and one out. Then Derek Jeter walked, and O'Neill blooped the game-winning hit into left-center. Bernie Williams walked, loading the bases, and Tino Martinez grounded out.

So in those five at-bats, the Yanks were 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. The Sox were 1-for-13 with no walks and seven strikeouts. Granted, they hit a two-run homer in that situation, but their failures far overshadowed that one moment of triumph.

The cursemongers are cranking up again, pointing to the near-home runs by Varitek and O'Leary as proof positive that an omnipotent force has doomed the Sox for eternity. Bull. The Red Sox curse themselves when they can't drive in Varitek from third base with one out, or can't drive in O'Leary from second with no outs. That ain't a sinister power working against you. That's bad baseball.

And so two winnable games sit instead in the loss column, meaning the Sox must now beat the Yankees four times out of five to advance to the World Series. It's not as daunting as it might sound, not with Pedro Martinez scheduled to pitch two of the five games, but they've frittered away virtually their entire margin of error against a team that is the polar opposite of the Sox we've seen the last two nights: A team that takes advantages of its opportunities, doesn't beat itself, and gives the opposition virtually no openings. They can be beaten, but you have to beat them.

The Sox haven't been able to do that because -- especially last night -- they've been too busy beating themselves.