Hiroki Kuroda gave up five runs just once in his first 24 starts this season.
Since then, the right-hander has surrendered at least that many runs in three straight outings.
Just like that, Kuroda went from a Cy Young Award candidate to one of the reasons the Yankees are still on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in.
Kuroda will get a chance to turn things around tonight when he goes up against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale.
“The last few teams haven’t really been chasing his splitter like teams have in the past,” catcher Chris Stewart said. “He’s kind of had to improvise.”
“He hasn’t been spot on the last few times he’s been out there,” Stewart said. “It’s tough to be as accurate as he is, but that’s the way he’s been and that’s what makes him so good.”
In his last three outings, though, Kuroda has given up 19 runs on 29 hits in just 16 2/3 innings, which translates to an 8.10 ERA. He also has coughed up five homers after giving up 12 all season prior to this slide.
Manager Joe Girardi is hoping the extra day since Kuroda’s last start will help.
“We need him to pitch well,” Girardi said. “He’s been a staple in our rotation and he’s been struggling.”
* Lefty reliever Cesar Cabral made his major league debut in yesterday’s 9-1 win over the White Sox. The Yankees have thought highly of the Cabral for a while, but elbow surgery sidelined him for the entire 2012 season.
He tossed a scoreless eighth, recording a strikeout, and said he elbow is completely healthy.
In the bottom of the inning, catcher J.R. Murphy made his first appearance, pinch-hitting for Robinson Cano. He hit a hard grounder to third, where Conor Gillaspiedropped the ball and Murphy was awarded his first big league hit.
Murphy, who could have a future in The Bronx, said someone with the team had retrieved the ball, but he had not yet gotten it back from them.
With the pair of debuts, the Yankees have now used 52 players this season, a franchise record. They used 51 in 2005 and 2008.
* Brett Gardner had two more doubles yesterday. Six of his last eight hits have been two-baggers and he has scored at least one run in each of his last four games.
* Prior to the game, righty reliever Preston Claiborne was recalled from Single-A Tampa.
* Prior to tonight’s game against the White Sox, the Yankees will work with Fans For The Cure and provide PSA blood tests as part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Doctors and nurses will be on hand from St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center to administer the tests.