BALTIMORE — Add Freddy Garcia to CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova to the list of Yankees rotation locks when manager Joe Girardi goes from six to five starters after Thursday.
Following Garcia’s solid six-inning outing, helping the Yankees beat the Orioles, 3-2, in front of 18,223 at Camden Yards last night, Girardi was asked if Garcia would start again in turn.
“Oh yeah,” Girardi responded.
That means the veteran right-hander will face the Blue Jays on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
“That was as good as it gets,” Girardi said of Garcia allowing a run, two hits and a walk in six frames in his first big league outing in three weeks due to a cut on the right index finger he never explained. “He knows how to pitch.”
Long gone are the days when Garcia pushed speed guns into the mid-90s. Now he relies on a high 80s fastball and a split-fingered fastball. He has won four straight and is 11-7 with a 3.09 ERA.
“Freddy knows how to pitch,” said Derek Jeter, who missed his second straight game due to a bruised right knee. “He is a great pitcher now as opposed to throwing hard.”
The victory pulled the Yankees to within 1 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Red Sox, who host the Yankees in a three-game series that opens tonight at Fenway Park.
Garcia received help from Mark Teixeira’s RBI double in the first and Nick Swisher’s two-run homer in the fourth off Alfredo Simon. It was Swisher’s 21st of the season and he has gone deep in six of the past seven games. Teixeira drove in his 100th run. He is the only player to reach 30 homers and 100 RBIs in each of the last eight seasons.
Late aid was provided by Rafael Soriano in the seventh, and Mariano Rivera’s perfect ninth led to his 34th save.
“I have to be happy, I didn’t pitch for three weeks,” Garcia said. “Everything was working.”
Asked about staying in the rotation, Garcia replied: “I don’t know, I try to win games.”
Because he has, he stays. That means Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Bartolo Colon are left to compete for two spots.
george.king@nypost.com