Vazquez ineffective again as Yankees lose, 8-4

ANAHEIM, Calif. - It was a day of extreme word usage.

Manager Joe Girardi bluntly said "I screwed up" regarding a decision that backfired late in the game, and a disgusted Javier Vazquez used the word "embarrassing" to describe his pitching.

You may have guessed by now that the Yankees didn't win their sixth straight series to start the season. The Angels won Sunday for the second time in the three games, beating the Yankees, 8-4.

Vazquez (1-3, 9.00 ERA), who earned his first victory of the season Tuesday in Oakland, followed that up with a rough and brief outing, one in which he allowed five runs and five hits in 32/3 innings.

"It's frustrating, I can tell you that," he said. "It's embarrassing the way I'm throwing the ball."

Vazquez, who was spotted a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, saw it disappear by the fourth - and so did he. It was his shortest outing since he lasted 32/3 innings for the White Sox on Sept. 18, 2008, against . . . the Yankees.

After Vazquez was booed off the mound in an April 14 loss to the Angels at the Stadium, Girardi said getting two road starts might be the best thing for the righthander, who has inspired a, shall we say, less than enthusiastic reaction from Yankee fans.

Vazquez's next start will come Saturday at home against the White Sox, for whom he pitched from 2006-08.

"That's something we definitely have to deal with," Girardi said. "We're there for him. He's facing his old club. He's obviously seen them enough. I expect him to pitch a good game. I expect him to get going."

It should be noted that a 1-3 start doesn't portend a lost season. CC Sabathia is one example of a pitcher starting 1-3 and turning it around. He did it last year, and things worked out OK for him. Of course, he and Vazquez are very different pitchers.

Girardi said it's not a mental issue with Vazquez. "I don't want to believe that,'' he said, "because this is a guy who's had success and pitched at a very high level." But his makeup in terms of pitching in New York was questioned before the season, and that won't be going away anytime soon. Still, Girardi said it's about mechanics.

"You can see him underneath the ball and he's more side to side than down," Girardi said of an issue that he said is affecting Vazquez's velocity. "When shoulders go side to side, the ball becomes flat and there's no changing depth. That's what happens to Javy at times."

Vazquez said his fastball, which he called the "most important pitch for me my whole career," is taking the biggest hit as a result. "My fastball's not where I want it to be control-wise," he said. "I feel like I can throw my off-speed pitches but I'm not locating my fastball at all."

It was a problem again Sunday as the 3-0 lead provided by Jorge Posada's two-run homer and Derek Jeter's RBI forceout in the second quickly evaporated. Bobby Abreu homered off Vazquez for the 10th time in 76 career at-bats against him in the third, and Brandon Wood's two-run double - coming on a sinking liner that leftfielder Marcus Thames approached awkwardly and couldn't get to - was the key hit in a four-run fourth that finished Vazquez.

The righty, who finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting last year, said several times he is frustrated but won't use the mechanical problems as an excuse. "I know that some things are mechanical, but right now I'm just not making the pitches," Vazquez said. "As much as you want to talk about mechanics, I have to get it done."

Girardi was upset with himself, too, second-guessing his decision not to complete an intentional walk to Kendry Morales, who hit a three-run homer off Damaso Marte in the seventh to make it 8-4. The Yankees had won their first five series, becoming the first defending champion to do so in 88 years and the first Yankees team to do it since 1926.