Vidal Nuno’s biggest lament was leaving pitches up in the zone.
The struggling lefty was talking about the strike zone, not the ozone, where the Orioles hit three homers off him in a 6-1 victory Saturday in front of a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 47,165.
“I’m on a roller coaster right now, I need a steady peak,’’ Nunez said after giving up three homers and four earned runs in 6 ¹/₃ innings. “The outcome isn’t always going to be positive, but at the end of the day I trust all my pitches.
“But this is the big leagues, and if you’re a tick off, they’re going to hit it.’’
That’s what Adam Jones did with the bases empty in the first, what Nelson Cruz did with one on in the fourth and what Steve Pearce did with another runner aboard in the fifth.
The three homers raised Nuno’s season total to 15 — one behind AL leader David Price.
In Nuno’s past two starts, he’s 0-2 with an 11.58 ERA and has given up five homers.
Yet, don’t expect manager Joe Girardi to replace the Frontier (Independent) League alumnus in the rotation or skip him this week, when the Yankees have Thursday off.
“We’ll stay in rotation,’’ Girardi said after his club’s four-game winning streak ended and Tino Martinez’s induction into Monument Park with a plaque was stained.
That’s because the Yankees don’t have an obvious alternative in the big leagues or in the minors. However, they historically are aggressive looking for help prior to the July 31 trading deadline, and Nuno’s replacement could arrive via that route.
“They’re always looking for ways to make us better,’’ Girardi said of the front office. “That’s what they do here. It’s not like there are starting pitchers laying around out there.’’
Nuno blamed the media for turning his job status into issue.
“You guys make it,” said Nuno, 1-4 with a 5.88 ERA. “I always go out there and have fun and give it my all.’’
Right now, there’s no fun attached to a Nuno start, and his all isn’t enough.
Rightfully so, the Yankees don’t want to remove a very effective Adam Warren from a terrific bullpen and attempt to build the right-hander up start to start.
So Nuno is the likely starter Friday night, when the Red Sox open a three-game series in The Bronx.
“When he makes mistakes, they’re hitting them out of the ballpark,’’ Girardi said. “He is somewhat of a fly ball pitcher, and when you make mistakes up in the middle of the zone, it’s probably going to leave the park.’’
Though Nuno has to shoulder a large portion of the blame, the Yankees had seven hits — five singles— against four Orioles pitchers and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The Yankees had three strong scoring chances and did nothing with them after Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer off Brad Norris in the fourth that cut the deficit to 3-1.
Brian Roberts led off the fifth with a double and never moved off second. With runners on first and second and one out in the seventh, Ichiro Suzuki fanned and Francisco Cervelli grounded out. Consecutive one-out singles in the eighth by Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury were not taken advantage of.
Yet, the story was Nuno and his future in the rotation.
“I know the production has to be there,’’ Nuno said.
Knowing it is one thing. Delivering it is something else.