And to think: Joe Girardi showed up for work in a terrific mood.
And why not? The Yankees had reached that level they reach a few times every year, it seems — that moment when you really do wonder how they ever lose at all, their pitching and hitting and defense all performing at peak levels, nine series wins in their last 11, seven in their last eight, the gap widening between them and the rest of the AL East every day …
And then … and then.
“Bad day for the left-handers today,” Girardi said.
The Yankees manager knew he was going to break the news in late morning that CC Sabathia was going to the disabled list with a strain in what is technically his adductor muscle but what essentially is his groin. He hurt it throwing a fastball against a Met whose identity he couldn’t remember, and didn’t feel any better after a full bullpen session Tuesday.
“We’re resilient,” Girardi had said then, a few hours before the Yankees would trim the Indians, 5-4, sealing a three-game sweep. “We have to be. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us.”
There was no pity at 11:30 in the morning, less at 3 in the afternoon. That’s when Steve Donahue, the Yankees trainer, walked up to Girardi in the dugout and delivered a two-word diagnosis.
“Fractured fibula,” Donahue said.
Girardi heard “fibula,” and thought “fib.” He had seen what the other 45,099 inside Yankee Stadium had seen in the top of the fifth — a scorching line drive off the bat of Cleveland’s Casey Kotchman that collided with Pettitte’s ankle. Pettitte tried a few warm-ups, threw one ball to the next hitter, Lou Marson, and looked like he was trying to walk barefoot over hot coals. Out he came.
“I knew it hurt,” Pettitte would say, “but I’ve been hit in the shin and the ankle before. You give it a little time, walk it off, figure it’ll go away. But it didn’t go away.”
So now he does instead, for a minimum of six weeks, probably more like two months, joining Sabathia on the disabled list. The Yankees insist Sabathia will miss just his two starts before the All-Star break, though groin injuries notoriously are fickle in their healing patterns, and CC’s issue is on his push-off leg. So that may be optimistic.
Tough day for the lefties. Tough day for the manager.
“Not exactly what you’re looking for,” Girardi said.
He’s right, of course. Not only will there be no sympathy for the Yankees, but you have to believe that, for the first time in weeks, the rest of the AL East sees a crack in their otherwise bulletproof armor. The Yankees really haven’t won every day, it just seems that way: five in a row, 15 out of 18, 25 out 33 since falling to 21-21 on the 21st of May.
If the schedule stiffens in the two weeks between here and the All-Star break — 11 games against the White Sox, Red Sox and Rays — before yesterday it seemed the Yankees had emerged as the one team in baseball capable impervious to difficult schedules because their presence on the schedule is what makes everyone’s day a little bit harder.
And, in truth, that still is the case, and that’s the bad news for everyone else who still fancies themselves a claim to the East. This won’t cause this team, playing this well, to crumble. Suddenly, the Yankees aren’t simply about home runs (though it was Robinson Cano’s daily blast that turned this game around for good), and look fully capable of beating you 9-6 and 8-5 even on those days across the next few weeks and months when they will be trotting out Adam Warren and Freddy Garcia instead of Sabathia and Pettitte.
“All I can do is put on my pom-poms now,” Pettitte said, “and be a cheerleader for a little while.”
It’s good to be the Yankees. They have been without their offensive engine, Brett Gardner, for months and are 18 games over .500. They lost the best closer of all time. Now they lose two-fifths of their rotation — 428 big league wins between them — and, yes, that isn’t exactly the foundation of a great day.
Though, by the way, they won again. Let the East stare at the mirage for a few days. The Yankees are fine. And will be fine.
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com