MLB

Phelps flops, Yankees fall to worst team in baseball

ARLINGTON, Texas — David Phelps entered the fifth inning Monday night pitching so well, the two-run pillow he was working with looked to be enough for a victory.

But when the right-hander left the mound at the end of the frame, he had lowered the anemic-hitting Yankees into a grave far too deep to climb out of, even on a night when Brett Gardner homered twice and Derek Jeter moved into seventh place on the all-time hit list.

Four runs in the fifth erased the Yankees’ advantage and propelled the putrid Rangers to a 4-2 victory at Globe Life Park, where a gathering of 44,508 watched in sweltering 90-degree heat.

Phelps entered the game 4-0 with a 2.96 ERA in his previous eight starts, and was a big reason the decimated Yankees rotation didn’t wilt after losing four-fifths of their arms before the All Star break.

“We had the lead against [Yu] Darvish and he’s tough. We got Gardy’s two homers and we couldn’t get the big hit afterward,’’ said Jeter, who went 3-for-4 and moved past Carl Yastrzemski into seventh place all-time with 3,420 hits.

The third-place Yankees’ third straight loss after winning seven of eight following the All-Star Game dropped them 4 ½ lengths back of the idle AL East-leading Orioles. It’s the Yankees’ biggest deficit since they were five out on July 13.

It was Phelps’ first loss since June 7 at Kansas City. In six innings on Monday, Phelps gave up four runs and eight hits, and fell to 5-5.

Darvish, who lost a five-inning, rain-shortened game to Phelps and the Yankees last week in The Bronx, improved to 10-6. In seven innings, Darvish allowed two runs and nine hits. He walked one and fanned eight.

Darvish’s last pitch, his 108th, resulted in Brian McCann striking out to end the seventh with Gardner on third and Jeter on second.

Phelps breezed through four innings, but the fifth was ugly.

“It all happened with two outs, that’s incredibly frustrating,’’ said Phelps, whose biggest mistake was a 0-2 fastball in the middle of the plate to the light-hitting J.P. Arencibia with the bases loaded and two outs that went for a two-run single that broke a 2-2 tie.

“It was really frustrating to Arencibia. I got a swing and miss on a fastball up and wanted to do the same thing and pulled it down.’’

Phelps also gave up an RBI single to Elvis Andrus and a run-scoring double to Adrian Beltre. Walking Jim Adduci on four pitches to load the bases in front of Arencibia, who was 1-for-13 against Phelps, didn’t help.

Gardner’s first multi-homer game raised his career-high number to a dozen.

“I would gladly trade them for a win, that’s for sure,’’ said Gardner, who is 5-for-11 with four homers off Darvish.

Jeter understands how special moving into the seventh on the all-time list, is but will wait until there are no more games to fully drink it in.

“It’s tough to enjoy it when you lose the game,’’ said Jeter, who singled in the first, doubled in the third, walked in the fifth and singled in the seventh. “I’m pretty sure when it’s over and done with, I’ll get a chance to look back and realize how special it is.’’

With Jeter needing only 10 hits to tie Honus Wagner for sixth place, there’s another special moment to come.

What’s not so special is the Yankees’ inability to score runs, so when they get a 2-0 edge on a pitcher like Darvish, it’s incumbent to make it stand up.

“It’s on me tonight, it’s the first game of the series,’’ Phelps said. “Darvish is on the mound and they gave me a 2-0 lead. I have to hold it. That’s what it boils down to.’’