BOSTON — Larry Rothschild took one bullet and CC Sabathia another for a horrific starting rotation.
In the wake of an eighth straight poor start that led to a 9-5 loss to the rampaging Red Sox on Saturday in front of a sold-out Fenway Park crowd of 36,862, Rothschild was very clear where the blame falls.
“First-pitch strikes haven’t been good and it’s just a bunch of different stuff,’’ Rothschild said after a third straight Yankees loss put them in position to get swept by their blood rivals Sunday night. “It’s been really tough. It’s tough on them and tough on the team. It’s my responsibility to get it right.’’
Realistically, it has to change because the schedule gets soft after Sunday night. Starting Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, 12 of the next 16 games are against the Diamondbacks (2), Orioles (6) and Blue Jays (4). The Red Sox visit The Bronx for four games this coming weekend.
Yet, the numbers from the past eight games are so horrific you have to wonder if the Yankees have the arms to avoid a complete meltdown and let the Red Sox and Rays creep closer in the AL East race. The Yankees led the Red Sox by 11 games when they pulled into town early Thursday morning, but Boston moved past the Rays into second place Saturday and trail the Yankees by eight lengths and the third-place Rays sit 8½ out.
With Wednesday’s trade deadline looming, there is a chance general manager Brian Cashman lands a starter and bullpen help. But all five starters can’t be replaced. And those starters have been horrific.
In the past eight games, Yankees starters are 1-5 with two no-decisions and a whopping 14.90 ERA, which was reduced from 15.61 because Sabathia gave up five runs in 4¹/₃ innings. They have allowed 59 hits, 10 walks and hit two batters in 32 innings. Ten of those hits are homers.
“We have been the reason why we are losing games so we want to turn it around,’’ Sabathia said.
After the Red Sox spanked Masahiro Tanaka for seven runs in the first inning Thursday night and James Paxton for three in the first Friday night, Sabathia looked like he had a chance to stop the hemorrhaging when he allowed one run in three innings. However, a three-run fourth led to the latest bludgeoning.
“I didn’t make enough good pitches, that is a good lineup over there and I left too many pitches in the middle,’’ said Sabathia, who gave up a two-run homer to J.D. Martinez and a two-out RBI single to Michael Chavis in the fourth that turned a 2-1 Yankees lead into a 4-2 deficit. Sabathia gave up a run-scoring double to Xander Bogaerts in the fifth and was replaced by Chad Green.
Asked if his right knee has been a reason for shaky outings in the past two starts, Sabathia said, “ I am not making excuses. I am out there and I am expected to get outs.’’
The Yankees’ bats stirred against former teammate Nathan Eovaldi in the eighth when Kyle Higashioka delivered a two-run single, but by then the gap was too wide to overcome.
Manager Aaron Boone emphasized little adjustments can help his struggling starters and said nobody should overreact to a bad week of baseball.
“Obviously it has been a tough weekend for us so far. It’s inevitable you are going to get punched in the mouth in a major league season and we will be up to the challenge,’’ Boone said.
First, however, somebody has to stop the outgoing missiles coming from the other teams’ bats.