MLB

No offense, sloppy Sabathia add up to Yankees fifth loss in six games

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CC Sabathia wanted to take the fall for his team.

He had given up a pair of home runs and then walked in what proved to be the winning run in an uncharacteristically sloppy seventh inning in a 5-2 loss to the Reds yesterday.

“I felt like I let the team down,” Sabathia said. “When you have a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning, that’s a ballgame you should win.”

But while Sabathia was looking to accept blame, Joe Girardi saw other problems that have plagued his team for longer than he’d like as the Yankees have lost five of six.

“He still only gave up three runs,” Girardi said. “The bottom line is we didn’t score a lot of runs again. That seems to be with what we’re struggling with right now.”

So even though Sabathia dropped his second straight game and fell to 4-1 in starts following a Yankees loss, the more disturbing trend is the team’s continued lack of clutch hitting.

“It’s strange to watch what we’ve watched the last week or so,” Girardi said. “You could probably go back further than that with the way we’re capable of swinging the bats.”

All they could muster off Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto was a two-run shot by Raul Ibanez in the sixth that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Ibanez has been a pleasant surprise this season, but GM Brian Cashman didn’t sign the 39-year-old to be arguably the team’s most productive bat.

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He’s now tied with Nick Swisher for the team lead with 27 RBIs and has forced his way up to fifth in the lineup. Girardi said he would think about moving Ibanez up even higher.

That concession points just as much to the lack of production from the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, as well as Mark Teixeira.

Still, Ibanez’s blast looked like it might be all the Yankees would need, for one day, at least.

“Anytime you have a two-run lead and CC on the mound, you feel good,” Ibanez said.

After cruising through six innings, Sabathia unraveled in the seventh. A leadoff homer by Ryan Ludwick was followed by one by Ryan Hanigan with one out. After Zack Cozart singled and Chris Heisey struck out, the normally precise Sabathia lost the strike zone and walked the next three batters.

“Three walks in a row is unacceptable,” Sabathia said. “That really hurt. I was overthrowing there when I should have probably backed off and collected myself.”

Instead, with the bases loaded, Brandon Phillips fought back from a 1-2 count for the walk and an RBI.

“It’s bound to happen to any pitcher,” catcher Chris Stewart said. “He’s not gonna be perfect. Unfortunately, everything happened in that one inning.”

Sabathia admitted the pitching staff is affected by the offensive troubles.

“These guys are scratching and clawing,” said Sabathia (5-2), who issued a season-high five walks and threw 121 pitches, his most of the year. “It’s a great offense, but it’s been tough lately.”

For a brief moment in the eighth, it looked like the Yankees were about to take the lead, but Alex Rodriguez’s shot to left-center got caught in the strong wind that swirled around the Stadium and didn’t make it out.

“We thought that ball was gone big time,” Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. “And he probably thought that ball was gone, too, but the elements were with us on that particular play.”

dan.martin@nypost.com