TROPIC BLUNDER: It was another ugly loss for the Yankees as Ichiro Suzuki (31) made a catch as he collided with Chris Dickerson, and CC Sabathia (inset) failed to hold a lead. (AP (2))
ST. PETERSBURG — Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One …
We aren’t talking ready for blastoff. How about a system-wide meltdown?
Throughout a free-fall that started in mid-July the Yankees insisted “panic’’ isn’t in the vocabulary.
So after yesterday’s 4-3 loss to the Rays in front of 28,585 Labor Day customers at Tropicana Field, the Yankees’ lead in the AL East is a scrawny game over the Orioles. The third-place Rays moved to within 2 1/2 lengths of the Yankees, who led by 10 games on July 18 and six on Aug. 17.
And Robinson Cano may be lost to a hip injury he suffered going after the game-winning groundball single in the eighth.
If you believe Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, panic hasn’t surfaced inside the Yankees’ clubhouse that was so quiet you could hear the mice belch.
“Who is panicking?’’ Jeter asked after the Yankees dropped their ninth game in 13 and he extended a slump to 4-for-32 (.125) with an 0-for-3. “I don’t panic, so I don’t have to deal with it.’’
Rodriguez returned from the DL after six weeks away due to a fractured left hand and put a positive spin on the latest dismal day.
“I like what I saw today a lot,’’ said Rodriguez, who went 1-for-4 with a soft single to center, lumbered home from first on Raul Ibanez’s triple in the third when the Yankees copped a 3-2 lead and struck out leading off the ninth against Fernando Rodney. “The team played with energy. If we play with that energy, it will be a fun September.’’
Energy is nice to see. It’s also expected from big league players. Wins are what matters. If the Yankees don’t start winning soon, the final month of the season will be the cruelest.
True to form, CC Sabathia blamed himself for letting a one-run lead slip away in the fifth. The Rays tied the score on an Evan Longoria groundout that plated B.J. Upton from third on a play on which Jeter may have had a shot at home, but went to first.
“With nobody out, that’s a tough play,’’ Jeter said. “If you don’t get him … I possibly could have had a chance but in that situation you don’t take a chance.’’
It was the second straight start in which Sabathia flushed a lead and it bugged the staff ace, who is 1-1 in three starts since coming off the DL.
“It’s frustrating, after the last time and not holding the lead and today. I got to be better than I was,’’ said Sabathia, who allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings and put the Yankees in a 2-0 hole by giving up an RBI single to Chris Gimenez in the second and a homer to Upton in the third.
The third single given up by David Robertson in the eighth was the difference and one Cano believed he would have had it if not for a feeling in his left hip on Gimenez’s grounder.
“I had it and then I felt the hip a little bit when I tried to bend,’’ said Cano, who described the feeling as grabbing. “It feels tight right now, hopefully it’s nothing big.’’
After watching Sabathia not stop the hemorrhaging, the Yankees hand the ball tonight to Freddy Garcia, a veteran pitcher they skipped so neophyte David Phelps could start last Saturday.
“It’s not a good feeling, you don’t want to put your head down,’’ Cano said of the lead being shaved to a game and losing nine of 13. “It’s hard, but you don’t want to send negative thoughts to your brain.’’
george.king@nypost.com