MLB

Yankees look like amateurs in opening loss to awful Astros

HOUSTON — And you thought ObamaCare got off to a miserable start.

With CC Sabathia unable to control Opening Day adrenaline and his pitches cutting naturally into the Astros hitters’ sweet spot, the ball being carelessly thrown away by Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran committing a fielding error and third baseman Kelly Johnson screening Derek Jeter on a ground ball, the Yankees stunk Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Buoyed by a solid spring, Sabathia and the Yankees were encouraged the ace was poised to put a pedestrian 2013 season behind them as the lefty was going to figure out how to pitch without the blazing fastball of years ago.

Instead, Sabathia gave up four runs in the first and two in the second when Jesus Guzman and L.J. Hoes homered to power perhaps the worst team in the majors to a 6-2 victory before 42,117.

How many times have you heard Sabathia blame himself for the Yankees not making the postseason last year?

Yet Sabathia didn’t beat himself up over Tuesday night’s debacle in which the fastball rarely made it into the 90s, the changeup was drawn to the bat barrels and the Astros were far too comfortable in the box.

“It got out of hand early. I have 34 starts left and I am definitely not going to pitch like the first two innings again,’’ said Sabathia, who is 1-3 with a hefty 6.12 ERA in 11 career Opening Day assignments. “I am not going to beat myself up.’’

While Opening Day is greeted with anticipation and celebration throughout baseball, the Yankees can do without all the trappings. It was the Yankees’ third straight Opening Day defeat and fifth in their last six.

The Yankees held their breath in the first inning when Jeter (1-for-3) got hit on the left wrist by a Scott Feldman pitch but stayed in the game and Brian McCann (1-for-4) took a foul tip on the right hand but didn’t come out either.

Near the end of spring training, Sabathia talked about how pleased he was with the changeup. Yet Hoes hit an 83-mph change for a homer and Jose Altuve singled in a run on a 77-mph change.

“I didn’t settle in because of the excitement of Opening Day,’’ Sabathia said. “I backed off a little too much. Balls were up and the changeup was cutting.’’

Sabathia’s final four innings didn’t yield a run, but the early damage was too much for the pop-gun Yankees lineup.

Feldman toyed with the revamped lineup Jacoby Ellsbury, McCann and Beltran are supposed to breathe life into while helping reduce the sting of Robinson Cano leaving The Bronx for Seattle.

The trio went 3-for-12 and the hits were singles.

Feldman exited in the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded after a Mark Teixeira single, Brett Gardner getting hit by a pitch and Brian Roberts drawing a walk.

Lefty Kevin Chapman surfaced to face the left-handed-hitting Johnson, who grounded back to Chapman to end the threat.

The Yankees scored two runs in the eighth when Chad Qualls replaced Chapman and gave up consecutive one-out RBI singles to McCann and Teixeira. With the Yankees in position to cut further into the lead, Qualls induced Alfonso Soriano to bang into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Sabathia is 33 and has pitched in every big moment baseball offers. Yet Tuesday night was like Christmas for a 6-year-old.

“I get excited like a little kid. I would sleep in my uniform the night before,’’ Sabathia said of the evening prior to the first game of the season. “I wanted to start the season off so good, I wound up pitching bad.’’