ARLINGTON, Texas — In a Yankees clubhouse smothered in silence, it was impossible to not hear the soundtrack of a brutal loss: two loud toilet flushes that started behind half doors and rolled through the large room.
The first one signified CC Sabathia flushing an early four-run advantage down the drains of Globe Life Park. The second one was for Chasen Shreve and David Robertson allowing a three-run lead to vanish later.
There were other reasons for a dreadful 12-10 loss to the Rangers in front of 31,304, but none that cut as deep as losing two leads to a morbid bunch like the Rangers.
“We scored 10 runs and we lost,’’ Sabathia said. “That is unacceptable.’’
Didi Gregorius’ first-inning homer and Neil Walker’s blast in the third helped the Yankees sprint to a 4-0 lead in 2 ½ innings and provided a feeling the Yankees were on the way to a laugher and taking two of three before heading home. Even when the Rangers cut Sabathia for five runs in the fifth to take the lead, it was easy to see the Yankees’ muscle taking over.
Six runs in the fifth when Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres homered gave the Yankees a 10-5 cushion, but the Rangers answered with two runs that knocked Sabathia out of the game after 4 ¹/₃ innings.
Four runs in the home sixth against Shreve and Robertson, plus a tainted run in the eighth off Dellin Betances, were enough for the Yankees who had won the previous eight series.
Coupled with the Red Sox beating the Rays, the Yankees fell 1 ¹/₂ games back in the AL East. They open a challenging six-game home stand Friday night against the Angels with the Astros up next.
“Occasionally, have a night like that,’’ Aaron Boone said of the Yankees’ second straight loss that lowered the record to 31-15. “It wasn’t our night on the mound. There are bumps in the road along the way.’’
Sabathia, who was attempting to win his 240th game and tie Frank Tanana for 14th place on the all-time list for left-handed pitchers, was hurt by his slider never arriving.
“It wasn’t there for me today,’’ said Sabathia, who allowed seven runs, six hits and two homers.
So how did he not allow a hit until he fourth, when Shin-Soo Choo led off with a single that started a five-run rally?
“The first three innings, they weren’t swinging at the slider yet,’’ Sabathia said.
Following the six-run fifth that was highlighted by Torres’ three-run homer (his eighth) and included Judge’s 13th, Shreve allowed two singles in the home half and was replaced by Robertson. He walked the first two batters to force in a run and gave up a three-run double to Jurickson Profar.
“I pitched poorly, got behind in the count and I really screwed it up honestly. Couldn’t make any good pitches and lost the game because of it,’’ said a somber Robertson, who has three blown saves and has an 8.22 ERA in eight May appearances. “I pitched like crap, there is nothing else to say about it. Been very poor, I haven’t thrown a lot of strikes, walked guys. I would like to turn it around and get some clean innings going, but I am going through a rough patch right now and have to clean up my act.’’
There is no way of knowing what the future holds, but it’s easy to see that no Yankees loss the rest of the way will be as bad as the one that was aptly accentuated by the loud sound of flushing toilets.