SAN DIEGO — On a night when two of the three teams ahead of them in the AL East lost, the Yankees continued to drop deeper into the sea of mediocrity.
Rested after a day off in this paradise city and Wednesday night’s pulsating win over the Dodgers still fresh in their heads, the Yankees turned to CC Sabathia hoping his recent stretch of stench evaporated into the cool evening.
Instead, the Padres punished the large lefty on the way to a 7-2 victory Friday night that was witnessed by a Petco Park crowd of 44,124.
With a chance to cut into Boston’s AL East lead and cut into the wild-card deficit, the Yankees lost to a team that started the night nine games under .500.
In 5 ²/₃ innings, Sabathia (9-10) gave up five runs and 11 hits, tying his season high. In Sabathia’s last four starts, he is 0-3 with a ridiculous 12.37 ERA and 37 hits allowed in 19 ²/₃ innings. He has not won since July 3.
The Yankees remained 8 ½ games behind the Red Sox and trail the Orioles, who are in position for the second wild card, by 3 ¹/₂ lengths.
After scoring two runs in the second off right-hander Andrew Cashner to tie the score, 2-2, the Yankees didn’t sniff the plate in the final seven frames.
Equipped with a mid-90s fastball, Cashner (8-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Curtis Granderson returned from the DL and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Eduardo Nunez became the eighth Yankee to start at third base this season. He went 1-for-3 and handled four chances without an error.
The hardest ball Granderson hit in his first three at-bats resulted in the final two outs in the sixth.
After whiffing and stranding two runners in the first and grounding to Cashner leading off the third, Granderson’s liner found first baseman Yonder Alonso’s leather with Lyle Overbay several steps off first base for an easy double play.
Pitching for the first time since July 23, Joba Chamberlain gave up a homer to Jedd Gyorko in the seventh that stretched the Padres’ lead to 6-2. Adam Warren gave up a solo homer to Will Venable in the ninth.
The Padres ran themselves into outs on the bases to end the second and third, but they scored twice in the fourth to break a 2-2 tie.
With one out, Logan Forsythe homered to left on a 3-2 pitch clocked at 85 mph. Everth Cabrera’s two-out triple scored Cashner from first for a 4-2 lead.
Ichiro Suzuki led off the top of the second with a single, stole second and scored on Nunez’s opposite-field double to right. Sabathia’s one-out grounder to the left side scored Nunez from third.
Sabathia’s habit of allowing the game’s first run continued in the opening frame when the Padres plated two. In Sabathia’s 23 starts, he has given up the initial run 14 times.
Cabrera and Chris Denorfia greeted Sabathia with singles. Yonder Alonso drew a bases-loaded walk and Jedd Gyorko drove in another with a ground out.
Sabathia was ticked at plate umpire Mike DiMuro for calling a ball on a 2-2 pitch to Alonso and yelled toward the umpire. Sabathia had more to say walking off the mound.
george.king@nypost.com