CHICAGO — When the Yankees woke up Thursday their July looked very good, then quickly melted in the sizzling Texas heat.
They had a six-game lead over the Orioles in the AL East and were 16-6 for the month going into the finale of a four-game series against the Rangers.
Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira continued to be fringe AL MVP candidates, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances overpowered hitters and the schedule starting Saturday showed just two games outside the Eastern time zone. Chase Headley played well and Nathan Eovaldi led the staff with 10 wins.
Then David Price — in whom they had an interest but weren’t willing to part with prized prospects — went from Detroit to Toronto. That was followed by the fragile Michael Pineda landing on the disabled list with a right flexor forearm muscle strain. It’s the same injury that robbed Miller of a month earlier this season.
Miller failed in the ninth of a 7-6 loss and CC Sabathia, who flushed a 3-0 first-inning lead, was sent to a hospital to be treated for dehydration symptoms.
Instantly, a month that had opened with the Yankees a half-game out of the AL East lead and had them six games up going into Thursday night’s action, had turned somewhat sour.
Here is a closer look at July.
MVP: Alex Rodriguez
He made it through spring training and you sighed. He hit .232 in April and you wondered how long he would stay on the field. May was better and June good.
In July, a month in which not many predicted Alex Rodriguez would be playing, the DH hit .285 with nine homers, 16 RBIs, a .390 on-base percentage and a 1.033 OPS.
Rodriguez’s month was highlighted by a three-homer game on July 25 when he helped the Yankees overcome an early five-run deficit against the Twins in Minneapolis.
LVP: Jacoby Ellsbury
Stephen Drew has been a permanent candidate in this area in all four months but the July winner is Ellsbury.
Since coming off the DL (sprained right knee), the leadoff hitter and center fielder has hit .215 (17-for-79) with a .247 on-base percentage and .589 OPS.
What’s ahead?
Sixteen of the 28 games in August are in The Bronx and seven of the 28 are against the lame Indians. And there are three at home versus the morbid Red Sox (with another three at Fenway Aug. 30-Sept. 2). There are three with the Blue Jays in The Bronx and three in Toronto which could impact who wins the AL East.
Twenty-six of the 28 games will be played in the Eastern time zone, with the first two in Chicago. For the first time since 2012, the Yankees travel to Atlanta for three against the Braves. That year they swept a three-game series.
Biggest issue
Pineda has been a health headache since the Yankees got him from Seattle. He missed all of 2012 and 2013 due to shoulder surgery, and was limited to 13 games last season due to suspension and a right shoulder muscle problem.
Now, he is on the DL with a strained forearm problem and nobody knows when he will return. Pineda isn’t an ace, but he is either the Yankees’ No. 1 or No. 2 starter.
Beyond that, Joe Girardi has to find ways not to fry the bullpen. So far he has been good in that department, but if the six-game lead going into Friday night’s game against the White Sox starts to shrink he will be tested.
Girardi has been diligent about not over-playing players, but more length from the starters would reduce the innings on relievers Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson.
They have combined for 82 appearances going into Friday night’s game against the White Sox in Chicago.
5 key stats
29:Â Pitchers used by the Yankees. The team record is 33 set a year ago.
29:Â Games Didi Gregorius went without making an error until Wednesday night. His previous high was 15.
48:Â Players used this season.
193:Â Number of at-bats without hitting a homer for by Brendan Ryan, who has 19 in his career and last homered in 2013.
$5 million:Â Amount of money the Yankees gave Chris Capuano to come back after last season. He went 0-4 with a 6.97 ERA in 16 games and was let go Wednesday.
Game of the month
A night earlier, the Yankees were spanked 10-1 when ex-teammate Phil Hughes fired seven scoreless innings. After three innings in this one, the Twins led, 5-0. Then Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homer off Tommy Milone with two outs in the fourth that collided with the facing in the upper deck in left. In the seventh, Rodriguez homered with a runner on and finished the night with a solo homer in the ninth. “Best win of the year,’’ Joe Girardi called it.