Yankees' Larry Rothschild takes blame for team's pitching struggles

July 28 (UPI) -- New York Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild says he takes full responsibility for the team's recent struggles on the mound.

Yankees starting pitchers have a 7.09 ERA since June 29, the second-worst ERA in the majors across that span. The Yankees have allowed at least eight runs in six of their last seven games entering play Sunday.

"It's been really tough," Rothschild said Saturday. "It's tough on [the pitchers], it's tough on the team."

All-Star Masahiro Tanaka allowed 12 earned runs in Thursday's 19-3 loss to the rival Red Sox, the second-most runs a Yankees starter ever has given up in a single game. Tanaka's ERA climbed from 4.00 to 4.79 that night.

Each of the team's five starting pitchers has an ERA above 4. Domingo German leads the starters with a 4.03 EA in 17 games (16 starts).

"It's not one thing. It doesn't just happen with one thing; it's different things for different guys," Rothschild said. "But first-pitch strikes and things like that haven't been good. It's just a bunch of different stuff that has been reviewed and talked about and tried to be corrected."

New York is expected to pursue another starting pitcher before Wednesday's trade deadline.

New York is still 66-38 despite their recent pitching woes. The first-place Yankees have an eight-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East Division.