Without New York’s big three, no relief in sight for Yankees

6:54 PM ET

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees’ dirty little secret is out: Unless the reliever is named Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman, Joe Girardi has little use for him and even less trust.

That may not come as much of a surprise, but rarely does something so indicative of the state of a team become as obvious as it did in the seventh inning of Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles: With CC Sabathia in a jam and nearing 100 pitches, Girardi left him in to pitch to Jonathan Schoop, one of the O’s best hitters, despite having Chad Green and Anthony Swarzak warming in the bullpen.

And after Schoop inside-outed a two-run double to right field, Girardi went not to Swarzak, who had thrown 5 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings in his previous two appearances, but to Green, a Triple-A starter who many thought might get the ball Friday night when the Yankees open a weekend series against the San Francisco Giants.

Chad Green was thought to be an option to start Friday for the Yankees. Instead, he was used in a relief situation in Thursday’s loss to the Orioles. Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The damage had already been done for this day, of course — Schoop’s double extended the Orioles’ lead from 2-1 to 4-1, which became the final — but in the process, Girardi may have damaged his team’s chances over the weekend as well. Now, with Green unavailable, the Yankees must throw Masahiro Tanaka on Friday night on four days’ rest — when he is far less effective this year — and against Madison Bumgarner, who is likely to beat the Yankees anyway.

For a team — and a manager — that had called Thursday’s game all but a must-win, it was a puzzling strategic choice, and it all came down to one essential truth: With Betances unavailable, Girardi really had no reliable Plan B to get his team through the seventh inning of a still-winnable game.

Asked if he had considered bringing in Swarzak to face Schoop, or even to get the final out of the inning after Schoop’s double, if only to preserve the option of starting Green on Friday night, Girardi grew testy.

“And then do what? Save Green for the eighth and ninth?” he asked.

When it was pointed out that he did, in fact, have other pitchers in his bullpen, Girardi could only name three. “I can’t kill Miller, I …

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