The Yankees put 428 career wins on the disabled list yesterday.
Kind of takes the luster off their five-game winning streak.
Just hours after announcing that CC Sabathia was headed to the 15-day disabled list and would be out until after the All-Star break with a strained left groin, the team lost Andy Pettitte for two months when the 40-year-old took a one-hopper off his left leg in the fifth inning against the Indians and suffered a fractured fibula.
Oh yeah, and the Yankees won, 5-4.
”We’re gonna see what we’re made of in the next couple of weeks,” Russell Martin said of the loss of the two veteran starters.
Pettitte was drilled just above the left ankle by Casey Kotchman in the fifth and tried to stay in the game. He didn’t think the pain was anything out of the ordinary and after throwing three warm-up pitches in front of manager Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue, he made one pitch to Lou Marson and hobbled on his follow-through.
”Obviously it hurt,” Pettitte said. “But I’ve been hit in the shins so many times and I’ve never had to come out of a game.”
Until yesterday.
”It’s kind of hard to pitch when you have a broken bone,” Martin said.
Pettitte stood on crutches and with his foot in a boot in front of his locker. He won’t be able to get on a mound again for at least six weeks.
Sabathia suffered his injury in Sunday night’s start against the Mets, when he felt a “tug” in the fourth inning, but opted to pitch through it. He didn’t tell the team about it until after he threw a bullpen session Tuesday.
”It’s a little sore,” Sabathia said, admitting he “probably made it a little worse” by staying in the game, but that the injury was not affected by Tuesday’s bullpen session.
But for as tough as that injury sounded before the game, it paled in comparison with Pettitte’s.
Now, the Yankees will have to rely on Adam Warren, who will make his major league debut tomorrow against the White Sox, and Freddy Garcia, scheduled to start Monday at Tampa Bay after being banished to the bullpen — though he’s pitched better recently.
David Phelps is another option. The right-hander is pitching in the Florida State League, where his pitch count is up to 55-60.
General manager Brian Cashman said he would like to stay within the organization to fill the rotation, but eventually he may be forced to look elsewhere.
”I’d prefer not to go outside,” Cashman said. “We’ve done that before. You have to have alternatives.”
If they do look for a trade, pitchers such as the Cubs’ Matt Garza, Houston’s Wandy Rodriguez, Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano and Colorado’s Jeremy Guthrie could be possibilities. Though Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels and Milwaukee’s Zack Greinke, aren’t out there yet, they would be the big prizes if they hit the market.
For now, the Yankees will rely on Ivan Nova, tonight’s starter, Hiroki Kuroda and Phil Hughes even more.
”The big thing is guys have to understand that [they] can’t make the starts for CC and Andy,” Girardi said.
The manager said he believes that, just as the team responded to the losses of Mariano Rivera and David Robertson in the bullpen, it can do the same with the rotation.
Girardi said his team has been resilient, but Alex Rodriguez admitted it has been a challenging season.
”We’ve been tested with a little more than you’d like to be,” the third baseman said.
“You can’t replace those guys.” Martin said. “But you don’t go into games thinking about who we have on the DL and how many runs we have to score.”
That may be a good thing right now.
dan.martin@nypost.com