Tommy Kahnle has gone from unhittable to a weakness in a Yankees bullpen that suddenly looks vulnerable, and the right-hander attributed his recent woes to an overreliance on his changeup.
“It seems guys are starting to catch on that that’s my go-to pitch,’’ Kahnle said after allowing a pair of homers — both on changeups — in the seventh inning of a 6-5 loss to the Nationals in The Bronx on Thursday.
“I’m going to have to make an adjustment and go from there.”
He has given up three homers in his last two outings after a solid eight-appearance stretch.
Kahnle has thrown his changeup 79.6 percent of the time this season, the highest rate of his career, while throwing his fastball just 17.6 percent, a career-low.
The pitch mix was by design, as Kahnle dealt with the aftereffects of Tommy John surgery that he returned from late last season.
But now that he has been less effective lately, Kahnle expects to reevaluate his repertoire.
His fastball velocity is returning, which means that might now be a better pitch for him.
Thursday, he gave up a go-ahead homer to Alex Call on a changeup before CJ Abrams also went deep on another change.
Kahnle blamed poor location, noting that his execution needs to be more precise when he’s throwing one pitch so often. And he said he wasn’t surprised opposing batters have caught on to what he’s doing.
“In the big leagues, guys are gonna adjust and I’ve got to adjust with it,’’ Kahnle said.
He’s also struggled with allowing inherited runners to score.
Kahnle has now let eight of nine score this season.
Kahnle isn’t the only member of the back end of the bullpen to find himself in a rut.
Clay Holmes allowed a run on four hits — and a hit by pitch — in the ninth.
It was the third time in his last four outings Holmes has been scored upon, although the latest appearance featured more than a little bad luck, as Holmes gave up two soft infield hits.
The Yankees looked like an especially bad team in the bottom of the second, when they had a pair of runners thrown out on the bases.
Kyle Higashioka, who doubled with one out, was thrown out at third on Oswald Peraza’s grounder to shortstop.
Then the inning ended when Peraza was caught off first base.
Manager Aaron Boone noted it was the second time Higashioka had been thrown out on that type of play and acknowledged it was a “bad play and I talked to [Higashioka] about it.”
But Boone also noted that runners are trying to get better jumps off second base.
“You have to strike a balance where you want to get a good jump, but you’ve got to know where the ball is,’’ Boone said.
Aaron Judge homered in the bottom of the first, giving him four home runs within a five at-bat span over the last two games.
Only three other Yankees have gone deep that many times in five plate appearances since 1963.
Judge also has six in his last six games — which includes his three-homer night on Wednesday, the first time Judge accomplished that feat in his career.
Michael King made his second start of the season and was disappointed to last just 2 ²/₃ innings with his pitch count at 50.
He blamed two third-inning walks on his demise, but he gave up just an unearned run in the appearance, as the Yankees continue to deal with a lack of depth in the rotation.
Everson Pereira picked up his first MLB hit with a two-out double in the eighth. He struck out against lefty Patrick Corbin in each of his first three at-bats before doubling to left.
“That was a good at-bat,’’ Boone said of Pereira, now 1-for-11 with a walk and five strikeouts since being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “He’s been under control for the most part.”
Greg Allen, designated for assignment Tuesday, elected free agency. He had 28 plate appearances with the Yankees after arriving in a trade from the Red Sox in May, which led to the release of Aaron Hicks.