Scott Kazmir loses his slider, and Angels lose to Yankees

Reporting from New York -- — 

Scott Kazmir had just finished warming up in the bullpen before Thursday night’s game when catcher Mike Napoli caught the eye of pitching coach Mike Butcher, and the two exchanged knowing glances.

“His slider looked really good, like I’ve never seen it before,” Napoli said of Kazmir, the Angels left-hander. “Butch and I gave each other a look like, ‘It’s going to be a good night.’ ”

A few innings into the game, those grins were gone, as were three of the balls that left New York bats. Kazmir got to the Yankee Stadium mound, and his slider went AWOL.

Left to fend for himself with just a fastball and changeup, Kazmir was pummeled for six runs and eight hits, three of them home runs, in four innings of a 6-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

Robinson Cano hit a solo shot in the second inning and a two-run shot in the fifth, and Derek Jeter hit a solo shot in the third and a run-scoring double in the fourth, as the Yankees built a 6-1 lead through five innings.

Kazmir, making his 2010 debut after opening the season on the disabled list because of hamstring and shoulder injuries, was knocked out by Cano’s second homer. Of his 87 pitches, he said only five or six were sliders.

“I didn’t have a feel for it at all,” said Kazmir, who was acquired from Tampa Bay last August. “Once a team like the Yankees can eliminate one pitch and look for one pitch or the other, it’s tough to put up zeros.”

The combination of a 94-mph fastball, a nasty slider and a good changeup helped Kazmir develop into one of the game’s better young left-handers with the Rays, but since suffering a quadriceps injury early in 2009, his slider has not been the same.

“I felt like it had no depth tonight; it looked like a weak changeup,” Kazmir said. “If I want to be dominant, I’m going to need that pitch. It’s been a while since I’ve had all three pitches working. It’s real frustrating when you have a hitter set up for a slider, and you can’t throw a good one.”

Kazmir opened the first two nice changeups that Jeter swung through, but his start quickly deteriorated. From the second through fifth innings, Kazmir allowed 10 of 18 batters to reach base.

“Kaz warmed up really well; he just didn’t bring some of the stuff he was warming up with into the game,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Early on, he had good life on his fastball. But as it went on, he lost his release point a little bit and he was behind a lot of guys.”

Kazmir is not the only Angels starting pitcher who is struggling. Through 10 games, the rotation has combined to go 2-7 with a 5.88 earned-run average, one of the culprits in the team’s 3-7 start.

The Angels have allowed 17 homers, most in the major leagues, and 14 of them have come off starting pitchers.

Of course, the offense couldn’t get much going again Thursday night outside of Hideki Matsui’s second-inning homer. The Angels went one for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“These guys have good arms, they’re good pitchers, and they will pitch well this year,” Scioscia said. “We haven’t given these guys early runs to work with, and they haven’t put up zeros to give us the ability to do some things offensively. Until we start getting some of these pieces to fall in, you’re going to be hit and miss.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com