If Joe Girardi didn’t lose his lunch before the game, watching his pitching staff’s performance last night likely did the trick.
With Girardi relegated to his office because of a lingering respiratory infection, bench coach Rob Thomson called the Yankees’ managerial shots, but no amount of strategy could erase this pitch poor night.
Ian Kennedy didn’t escape the third inning, and it only got worse in the Yankees’ 13-4 loss to the Rays at the Stadium.
As bad as Kennedy was, allowing six runs in 21/3 innings, some of the loudest boos were reserved for reliever LaTroy Hawkins, who surrendered six runs in the eighth, turning a two-run game into a blowout.
That was before everyone’s favorite punching bag, Kyle Farnsworth, allowed an upper-deck blast to Carlos Pena, undoubtedly making Girardi reach for the pail one last time.
Girardi, who spent much of the afternoon lying on the couch in his office, decided about 90 minutes before last night’s scheduled first pitch to entrust Thomson with the managerial reigns.
Thomson’s previous appearance as a manager came in 1995 for Single-A Oneonta, where he led the Yankees’ rookie league team to a 34-41 record.
Thomson said he checked with Girardi, who is expected back in the dugout today, throughout last night’s game.
“We were pretty much on the same page on my thoughts,” Thomson said.
Kennedy surrendered six earned runs on four hits and four walks.
The right-hander was finished after pinch-hitter Shawn Riggans smashed a three-run double in the third that extended Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-0.
Location was Kennedy’s biggest issue. He walked two batters in the first inning, giving the Rays a run on Cliff Floyd’s single before walking two more batters in the third.
It’s clear the Yankees thought Kennedy’s strike zone got squeezed as the game progressed, with catcher Jose Molina mentioning that plate umpire Doug Eddings got into a “rhythm of calling balls” after the right-hander missed early in the game with some pitches.
“I didn’t feel all that bad about my control,” Kennedy said.
“Sometimes I fell behind in crucial situations, and that’s something you can’t do.”
Akinori Iwamura singled leading off the third and took second on a wild pitch before Carlos Pena walked. B.J. Upton dribbled an RBI single for a run before Floyd walked and Riggans unloaded for three runs.
Jonathan Albaladejo replaced Kennedy and promptly allowed an RBI double to Eric Hinske that increased the Yankees’ deficit to six runs.
Albaladejo was among the Yankees’ bright spots. The rookie, who might be demoted to Triple-A today when Andy Pettitte is activated from the disabled list, did not allow an earned run over 22/3 innings, striking out four in the process.
Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber each added a scoreless inning before it got messy in the eighth. Floyd started the seven-run onslaught with a line drive home run against Hawkins, who allowed six hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
The Yanks had made it a game with four runs in the bottom of the third against Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine.
It started with Hideki Matsui’s leadoff homer just inside the foul pole in right.
Before the inning was over, Derek Jeter had an RBI triple, Bobby Abreu an RBI groundout and Jason Giambi an RBI double.
“[Sonnanstine] did a nice job of keeping his composure because we had some pretty good at-bats in the third, and I thought, ‘We’re coming, we’ve got some momentum,’ ” Thomson said. “But he regrouped and did a nice job.”
mpuma@nypost.com