MLB

Kuroda in control as Yanks zip Jays

CC Sabathia is the resident ace based on past performance and salary.

Andy Pettitte, who went on the disabled list yesterday with an upper back muscle problem is the wise old head others go to for advice.

Then there is Hiroki Kuroda, who is easily the Yankees’ best pitcher.

Kuroda pounded that message into the Blue Jays last night in The Bronx, where he hurled the Yankees to a 5-0 victory was witnessed by an announced crowd of 40,008.

“Our starting pitching has been awesome and Kuroda has been doing it all year,’’ Vernon Wells said of the 38-year-old right-hander. “Tonight was a perfect example of that.’’

In eight innings, one shy of Kuroda’s season-high, he allowed two hits, a walk and fanned five.

Kuroda is 6-2 and has won four of his past five decisions. During that span he hasn’t given up more than three runs, and fired blanks twice.

After the three batters who followed Melky Cabrera’s leadoff double in the first, the Blue Jays didn’t have another batter up with a runner in scoring position against Kuroda.

“I felt good, definitely, especially in the first inning when I struck out [Jose] Bautista and [Edwin] Encarnacion,’’ Kuroda said of the first two outs of the opening frame that ended when Kuroda snagged J.P. Arencibia’s liner for the final out. “That put me in good condition.’’

The victory stopped a two-game Yankees slide and hiked the AL East leader’s record to 26-16.

After Cabrera’s game-opening double, Kuroda allowed a walk and a single across the next seven innings.

Kuroda received support from two unlikely sources: David Adams and Austin Romine.

The neophytes went a combined 4-for-7 and had a big hand in the three-run seventh against Mark Buehrle (1-10 lifetime against the Yankees) that extended the Yankees’ lead to 5-0.

“I was real comfortable at the plate,’’ said Romine, who went 2-for-3 and drove in a run with a double in the seventh. “I tweaked a little something. My upper half was dead and my hands were still. I created more rhythm and felt good.’’

In his third big league game, Adams went 2-for-4 and scored twice.

Released near the end of spring training to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Adams returned to the organization and was promoted Wednesday from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“At that point I didn’t know where I would be,’’ said Adams, a converted second baseman who looks comfortable at third and at the plate.

Romine is getting a chance because Francisco Cervelli went on the DL and Chris Stewart is nursing a left groin problem. Adams is starting at third because Jayson Nix had to move to short when Eduardo Nunez went on the DL.

“You can’t explain it, you thought you were through with it and two guys go down the same day,’’ Wells said of Pettitte and Stewart being injured Thursday night. “At the same time the kids are hungry. They’re put in this situation and to play in this atmosphere, there’s nothing else like it.’’

Through 25 percent of what is always a very long season, there hasn’t been much like Kuroda, either.

Sabathia still fronts a rotation that is without Ivan Nova and Pettitte and houses David Phelps, a struggling Phil Hughes and Vidal Nuno, who has one major league start on the resume.

Yet, there is little doubt it’s Kuroda the Yankees can least afford to lose.