When July 2013 ended, Hiroki Kuroda was a shining light in the Yankees rotation with a 10-6 record and a 2.38 ERA.
Then came August and September. The light dimmed considerably: 1-7 with two no-decisions and a 5.40 ERA over those final two months.
So Kuroda, while admitting his stuff was weak, stressed his belief that his effort in the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Indians on Sunday at Yankee Stadium was a one-shot deal.
“All my pitches and my command were really not good today,” said Kuroda (7-8) who yielded five hits, four walks and three earned runs while lasting 4 ²/₃ innings to tie his season low. “Early in the game, especially in the first inning, I was not able to locate my pitches.”
But this was not a sign of things to come, Kuroda said, and not a repeat of the horrors of August 2013.
“I would say it was just for today,” Kuroda said through his interpreter.
Kuroda also hit a batter, so it was only the second time in his career he put five runners aboard by hit-by-pitch and unintentional walks. Not exactly the stuff you want on the back of your baseball card. Kuroda was in trouble from the start. Jason Kipnis led off the game with the first of three Cleveland first-inning singles that brought a 1-0 lead.
“He wasn’t sharp with his split today. He battled. He didn’t have great command,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Just one of those days. They did a good job of putting the ball in play with two strikes, especially Kipnis. That led to some runs for them.”
And it led to worry all this had been seen before. Kipnis was part of a third-inning rally, doubling and later scoring. When the Indians chased Kuroda in the fifth, it was the leadoff hit batter that burned the Yankees righty. Kuroda eventually walked home his third run.
“The biggest thing for me was that I could not locate my pitches,” Kuroda said after his 97-pitch (57 strikes) effort. “I’m good enough to get on the mound and as long as I am with this team it is my responsibility to get out there whenever I can.”
Kuroda said physically he was fine and feels fine. But for one game, the mental approach could have used some work.
“I might have been overprotective, trying not to give up any runs,” Kuroda said. “I was trying not to give up runs and I didn’t want to give up the big ones, the homers. I was trying too much to make perfect pitches.”