TORONTO — The Yankees have tipped their hats to pitchers so many times this year, they better begin icing their elbows and wrists.
Kyle Drabek was the latest hurler to be smothered in Yankees hosannas after hurling the Blue Jays to an 8-1 victory in front of 28,915 at Rogers Centre.
“That sinker was really working,’’ Mark Teixeira said of Drabek, who recorded 13 of 21 outs on the ground. “You don’t want to say [Roy] Halladay because Halladay is special, but I felt like Halladay was out there tonight.’’
Drabek, whose dad Doug was a major league pitcher, toyed with a Yankees lineup that was without Derek Jeter (day off) and with Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira.
While manager Joe Girardi said he doesn’t see panic in his anemic hitters who went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-33 (.091) in the clutch across the past four games, Russell Martin noticed anxiousness.
“Everyone was trying to hit a three-run homer with nobody on,’’ said Martin, who went 0-for-3.
The lack of clutch hitting is a hot topic but the reality of last night was that by time Hiroki Kuroda recorded nine outs, the Blue Jays led 5-0 thanks to a two-run homer by J.P. Arencibia in the second and a three-run blast from Eduardo Encarnacion in the third.
Jose Bautista added a solo shot into the second deck in left field in the fifth off Kuroda, who admitted he has to change the way he pitches the muscular hitters in the American League after facing the National League hitters for four years.
“I can’t be pitching like this. I have to make adjustments,’’ said Kuroda, who is 3-4 with a 4.50 ERA after giving up seven runs and eight hits in five innings. “I have to change my approach.’’
How?
“It’s hard to make adjustments with four days’ rest, but I have to keep everything low and that’s what I will do from now on,’’ said Kuroda, who was anointed the No. 2 starter by Girardi early in spring training and hasn’t delivered the type of consistency required of a front-of-the-rotation pitcher.
Nor has the lineup done its share. Nearing the quarter pole of the season the games don’t match the names.
Cano, who made an error and bobbled a possible double-play pivot in the second, Rodriguez and Teixeira went a combined 2-for-9. The only Yankees run came on Teixeira’s bad-hop single in the sixth when the Yankees trailed 7-0.
As usual, Girardi remained positive. An inch or two here and there and Kuroda wouldn’t have been hit as hard. And when it comes to his struggling lineup, Girardi is confident the games will eventually match the names.
“We have to get it done; there is no panic here. We play a lot of games,’’ Girardi said of his 20-17 club that has lost three of four.
The Yankees never panic. And they are without Mariano Rivera, David Robertson and missing Brett Gardner. But injuries surface in every clubhouse.
“Guys have to find a way and see if it becomes contagious,’’ Girardi said. “ We have not hit with runners in scoring position.’’
Which has led to a lot of cap-tipping.