David Phelps has another solid outing in CC Sabathia's rotation spot for New York Yankees

David Phelps admitted he still has "pinch me" moments -- times when he looks around the Yankees clubhouse and allows himself to be in awe of his surroundings and the people he has been amongst since being called up from the minor leagues in April.

"It's like that for me pretty much every day," the rookie said Saturday. "Everywhere I turn, there's so many amazing players on this team."

Funny enough, it's Phelps' aplomb and control that have him in position, perhaps, to become a mainstay in that locker room.

Phelps was the tough-luck loser in the Yankees' 4-1 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday, but the righthander put forth another quality performance in his second spot start in place of CC Sabathia, who is on the disabled list. Phelps allowed three runs and seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in a career-high 6 2/3 innings.

"I thought he did a really good job," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He mixed his pitches well, used everything that he had. Even the home run that he gave up was a ball off the plate."

That was the two-run shot to Adrian Gonzalez in the first inning. With Carl Crawford on second with two outs, Gonzalez powered a low-and-outside fastball over the leftfield wall to put the Red Sox up 2-0.

"It was right where we wanted," Phelps, 25, said of the 2-and-1 pitch. "That ball was down and off the plate a little bit. But he's strong and he just got enough of it . . . When he hit it, I didn't think he got it as well as he did. I turned up and saw it going."

The Red Sox went up 3-1 on Nick Punto's one-out RBI double to rightfield in the fifth inning. The 1 1/2 mistakes were the only pockmarks on Phelps' line. In his previous start Monday, he gave up two runs in five innings in an 8-2 win over the Rangers.

In five starts, Phelps is 1-2 with a 2.92 ERA, and in 19 relief appearances, has a 2.54 ERA. Girardi said -- with certainty -- the rookie isn't a threat to take any of the starter's jobs, but his versatility does provide the team options.

"I love that guy," Nick Swisher said. "He's a competitor and he wants to be out there. Anybody that wants to be out there, we want them out there . . . He just ended up on the wrong side of the stick tonight."

Sabathia could return to the rotation Friday, but Girardi told Phelps to prepare as if he'll make the next start.

"I'm not going to be able to do what he does," Phelps said of Sabathia, "but I go out there and try to keep us in the game whenever my name is called."

Phelps, a 14th-round draft pick in 2008, wasn't exactly a heralded prospect in the Yankees' farm system and doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he did go 40-15 with a 2.51 ERA in 91 minor-league games.

"We were excited about the way he was throwing when he came up," Girardi said.