When it was pointed out to Freddy Garcia the Royals have scored a lot of runs this year, the Yankees starter had a simple response.
“Not tonight,” Garcia said, then cracking a big smile.
The 34-year-old the Yankees pulled off the scrap heap had another strong outing and carried them to a 3-1 victory over the Royals last night in the first game of a six-game homestand in front of an announced crowd of 41,275 at Yankee Stadium.
Garcia allowed only a home run to former Yankee Melky Cabrera, then turned the ball over to the bullpen, which pitched three scoreless innings. An RBI single from Derek Jeter and a two-run single from Alex Rodriguez was all the offense the Yankees would need as they picked up their 20th victory of the season.
“We pitched well,” manager Joe Girardi said. “[The Royals are] a team that’s scoring a lot of runs. Freddy just continues to find ways to get outs. That’s what he does. He really pitches. He expands the zone. He’s got a number of pitches he can go to.
“Pitching is so important and we’re getting it.”
They’re lucky they are.
The offense continues to search for consistency. Two days after scoring 12 runs and hitting five homers, the Yankees had only one extra-base hit. The Yankees have relied on their starters to carry them on days when the bats are silent, and bargain-bin pickups like Garcia and Bartolo Colon have bought general manager Brian Cashman time to search for a long-term starting solution.
“Both those guys have been angels sent to us and they’ve been pretty incredible,” said Rodriguez, who broke an 0-for-10 skid with runners in scoring position with his two-run single in the fifth inning that broke a 1-1 tie.
The bullpen combination of David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera shut the Royals down with three scoreless innings to secure the win.
Garcia won after losing his last two outings. He did it with his usual assortment of off-speed pitches, topping out at 89 mph. At times, he does not look like his pitches could break a pane of glass, but hitters continue to flail away.
“That’s what I’ve got,” he said. “I just go up there and do my thing. I don’t have the power no more. I’ve got to go there and make it happen.”
Garcia had three strikeouts, walked two and gave up six hits. Cabrera’s leadoff home run to center field tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth, and was the only damage the Royals would do.
Kansas City entered last night’s game tied with the Yankees atop the American League with 170 runs scored. They were held to one run for just the second time this season.
The Yanks have to be encouraged to get a big hit from Rodriguez, and another multi-hit night from Jeter. This was his third straight game with at least two hits after scuffling for most of the first five weeks.
After Garcia got himself into trouble in the seventh inning, allowing the first two batters to reach, Robertson walked Matt Treanor to load the bases, but then struck out Alcides Escobar and Chris Getz on a beautiful curveball to escape the inning.
“It seems like I can always make a situation worse on myself,” Robertson said. “I don’t know how I do it, but I found a way to get out of it tonight.”
“He’s Houdini,” Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain pitched a hitless eighth inning, striking out two batters with filthy stuff. He then turned the ball over to Rivera, who worked a one-hit ninth to pick up his 13th save. Rivera ended the game with a nice defensive stop to start a 1-4-3 double play.
brian.costello@nypost.com