(Christopher Pasatieri)
If David Phelps vanishes into the long relief role Friday the rookie right-hander disappears from the rotation knowing he did very well filling in for CC Sabathia.
While Sabathia is adamant that he is coming off the disabled list Friday, manager Joe Girardi is hedging a bit just because Girardi is always conservative.
Yet, if Sabathia needs an extra day or two to make sure the inflamed left elbow is ready, the Yankees would be very comfortable giving Phelps a third start in place of their ace.
“I love the guy, he competes and he loves to be out there,’’ Nick Swisher said of Phelps, who was betrayed by the Yankees lineup in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox yesterday that was witnessed by 49,466 at Yankee Stadium. “He battled today but ended up on the wrong side of the stick.’’
In his second start for Sabathia, Phelps pitched better than the first outing but was saddled with the loss because the Yankees’ lineup was handled by lefty Jon Lester who allowed a run, five hits in seven frames and looked nothing like the pitcher whose failures — along with with Josh Beckett’s — are the biggest reason the Red Sox are looking at a second straight dark October.
“He threw a lot of strikes today,’’ said Swisher, who went 3-for-4 with two of the hits off Lester (7-10). “You weren’t getting on today unless you got base hits.’’
That was also the case with Phelps, who didn’t issue a walk in 6 2/3 innings. Even the pitch that hurt him the most was a good one according to Phelps, who is 1-1 with a 3.86 filling in for Sabathia.
“It was right where I wanted it,’’ Phelps said of a 2-1 fastball clocked at 92 mph to Adrian Gonzalez in the first that he stroked for an opposite–field two-run homer to left. “It was down and running off [the plate]. When he hit it I didn’t think he hit it that good.’’
Curtis Granderson’s 32nd homer cut the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth but ninth-place hitter Nick Punto, he of the .193 batting average, scored the speedy Pedro Ciriaco from first with a double down the right-field line in the fifth.
The Red Sox tacked on a run in the eighth when Ciriaco, who went 4-for-4 and is 15-for-29 (.517) in seven games against the Yankees, doubled.
From the beginning the Yankees wasted scoring chances. Derek Jeter walked and Swisher singled to start the first but Robinson Cano, who is in a 1-for-23 slide, fanned, Andruw Jones grounded out and Casey McGehee whiffed.
Granderson opened the second with a walk but Russell Martin banged into a double play. Granderson led off the seventh and moved over to third on a groundout, but was never driven in.
“It’s hard to win games like that, when you have opportunities and you aren’t able to score runs,’’ said Girardi, whose hitters went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. “When you don’t do that you are usually going to lose the game.’’
Coupled with the Rangers beating the Blue Jays, the loss sliced the Yankees’ lead over the Rangers for the top record in the AL to 1 1/2 games.
“I am not going to do what he does,’’ Phelps said of Sabathia. “But I try to keep us in the game.’’
He did more than that. Unfortunately for Phelps and the Yankees, Lester was the pitcher many expected him to be all year.