MLB

Yankees fall down early, can’t rally in Opening Day loss to Red Sox

The makeshift Yankees made their debut Monday without a considerable number of stars — and their payroll — on the field.

And it wasn’t pretty.

Not only did the absence of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson hurt their chances, another shaky Opening Day performance by CC Sabathia was just as problematic in an 8-2 loss to the Red Sox in The Bronx.

Sabathia gave up four runs in five innings, struggling with both command and velocity to fall to 0-1. And while Boston’s Jon Lester wasn’t much better, he helped Boston’s four-run second against the Yankees ace stand up.

To make matters worse, Joba Chamberlain was roughed up in the ninth, when the Red Sox blew the game open.

Sabathia, who has just one win in 10 Opening Day starts — and none in five with the Yankees — consistently saw his fastball stay at 89-90 MPH, which led to some of his problems.

Boston came up with a pair of two-out, run-scoring hits off Sabathia to take a 4-0 lead in the second inning.

The Yankees got two runs back in the fourth when Francisco Cervelli delivered a single that scored Kevin Youkilis and Vernon Wells.

They had an opportunity to get back into the game in the seventh, but after Andrew Miller walked the first two batters he faced, he bounced back to strike out Eduardo Nunez and Robinson Cano. Andrew Bailey finished it off by fanning Youkilis.

And without the power they are accustomed to having, the Yankees were unable to rally against their rivals.