Layoff, and no payoff

By no means did Yankees manager Joe Torre place all the blame on starting pitcher Jeff Karstens for yesterday's 7-5 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Torre said that although the 24-year-old righthander was healthy, it had been a long time since he had been put into a starting situation.

His last start in the regular season was Sept. 30, 2006, against Toronto in New York, when he earned a no-decision in a 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays. Karstens last started in spring training March 25 against the Detroit Tigers but left with right elbow stiffness after 46 pitches and started the season on the disabled list.

Last night, the layoff showed. He struggled through 4 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits and all seven Boston runs, including a home run to slugger David Ortiz in the fourth to make it 7-4.

"He probably wasn't as sharp today as he will be," said Torre. "I thought the game took a turn with [Kevin] Youkilis's walk [in the plate appearance before Ortiz]. That, I thought, was the difference. He didn't want to walk him. He just couldn't locate as well as he normally would. That's where I think the lack of sharpness showed up more than anything."

Because of injuries to the pitching staff, Torre said the Yankees had to call on Karstens sooner than they would have otherwise. In a perfect world, he would have had at least one more rehab start beyond last Monday's for Single A Tampa.

"That was the report coming in, he's probably not as sharp," said Torre. "But the situation we're in, we just wanted to make sure he was healthy. We felt he had enough different pitches that he could pitch well."

Karstens wasn't overly glum about his outing.

"They're really patient," he said about Boston's hitters. "They look for pitches out over the plate that they can hit, and they did."

They also forced him to labor more than he or his manager wanted. He threw 89 pitches, 58 for strikes. On the walk to Youkilis with two outs, Karstens made no excuses.

"There were a couple of pitches that were close," he said. "Probably they were balls, they were a little down. I didn't offer him anything. He had a good eye. What could I do? I could've put it over the plate a little more and take my chances with him and not have Big Papi hurt me. Any time you give someone a free pass and it comes back to hurt you, it always sticks with you."

Karstens said while watching Friday night's wild game he tried to glean as much as he could about the Boston batters, whom he was seeing for the first time.

"I was just trying to come out and throw strikes and keep the ball down and keep it within reach," he said. "[Ortiz] just seemed to be so patient and wait for pitches up out over the plate. I'd make pitches down and he wouldn't offer at them. He made me work. For the most part, I did throw a lot of strikes, but every strike I made over the plate or over the middle of the plate, they seemed to hit."

Karstens said he understands the lure of Fenway Park and the rivalry with the Red Sox. "It's great," he said. "I think it brings out the best in you, but it didn't bring out the best in me today."

The Yankees' pitching adventures will continue tonight when they send another 24-year-old to the mound -- Chase Wright -- against Daisuke Matsuzaka.

"Karstens, as far as I was concerned, he held it together emotionally," said Torre. "I anticipate Chase will do the same thing."

Asked if he had any advice for Wright, Karstens smiled slightly but ruefully.

"Just keep the ball down," he said, "and you'll be all right."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at Marrapese@globe.com.