BALTIMORE — Joba Chamberlain dug himself and the Yankees into a hole again yesterday, but this time that hole didn’t turn into an early grave.
That, however, doesn’t mean the Yankees and Chamberlain don’t have a problem with the right-hander’s putrid opening innings.
“It almost cost us a game again,” Chamberlain said after the Orioles punished him for three runs in the first inning. “It can’t keep happening.”
Thanks to Francisco Cervelli’s legs, Johnny Damon’s seemingly daily home run, solo blasts by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano and three shut out innings by the beleaguered bullpen, Chamberlain got the 5-3 victory in front of 33,290 at Camden Yards on Mother’s Day.
With his mom facing drug-dealing charges in Nebraska and working with a busted blood vessel in the right thumb, Chamberlain gave up a three- run homer to Aubrey Huff and allowed five hits — four of them singles — in the opening inning.
That 3-0 ditch followed the four runs and five hits Chamberlain surrendered in the first inning Tuesday night in Boston. The Yankees didn’t re cover from that deficit.
For the season, batters are hitting .481 (13-for-27) in the first inning against Chamberlain, who gave up four hits and no runs in the following five frames. After his fastball was clocked at 89 mph in the first frame, Chamberlain was at 96 in the second and 95 in the fifth.
According to manager Joe Girardi, Chamberlain threw a “few extra pitches in the bullpen” and that didn’t work so “we are going to Plan B.” Girardi, who said he didn’t think Chamberlain’s early trouble was simply a coincidence, didn’t reveal what Plan B was.
Chamberlain, who improved to 2-1, didn’t mind that Huff pumped his fist at first base and again at the plate after hitting his three-run blast.
“I didn’t notice,” Chamberlain said. “He did what he is supposed to do with it . . . if he wanted to do back flips. I am not mad at him. He hit a home run and he did what he was supposed to do.”
Huff admitted he was giving Chamberlain what Chamberlain dishes out when he records a big out.
“He’s done it a couple of times to me when he’s struck me out. It’s just in good fun. I always told the guys that if I get him, I’m going to give him a nice fist pump,” Huff said. “For me, it wasn’t really showing anybody up. I was just trying to have some fun with it. He does it all the time and I figured you know what, why not?”
The Yankees, stymied by Koji Uehara across six innings when the only run was Teixeira’s first-inning laser to right, were glad to see the right-hander depart after six.
Cano homered off lefty Jamie Walker with one out in the seventh. With two gone, Cervelli legged out an infield single off Jim Johnson and Derek Jeter followed with a dribbler toward third for another infield single.
Johnson fell behind Damon, 2-0, and with the count full, watched Damon’s sixth homer in 10 games and ninth of the season climb toward the blue sky and land in the seats.
“We didn’t have much life after the first inning,” said Damon, who credits hitting coach Kevin Long for getting him balanced and able to cover more of the plate. “Two infield singles and the home run got us back in there. It seemed like we had nothing going for us.”
Chamberlain is correct. He can’t continue to put the Yankees in a ditch every game. But it’s not something easily fixed.
“If I knew why,” he said, “it wouldn’t happen.”
