PACKER CRUSHER

Aaron Rodgers likely lost for season with broken collarbone

SINCE the playoffs began, Yankee reliever Tommy Kahnle has pitched seven scoreless innings, surrendered no hits, walked one and struck out seven. He pitched two scoreless frames in Saturday’s loss in Houston. Not a bad return on the righthander, who was acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline in a package that included David Robertson and Todd Frazier also coming to the Bronx. “It’s been crucial to our success up until this point,” Joe Girardi said of Kahnle. “I look at a game where we lose 2-1 (Saturday), he kept it there. He’s done a tremendous job down the stretch here. The one thing we weren’t quite sure about him when we got him is how much we could use him multiple innings. It was not something he really did a lot in Chicago. He was very successful in Chicago, and we were concerned if we took him out of that type of role, would it change who he was. It hasn’t, which is very big in the playoffs, because some days you don’t have certain relievers.” Girardi said Kahnle “should be available” Monday.

SEVY UPDATE

Yankee starter Luis Severino was pulled after just four innings in Saturday’s loss, and he was hit on his left wrist by a Yuli Gurriel liner. But the righthander said after the game that he had told Girardi and the training staff that he was “good” and that he wanted to stay in the game. Girardi said Sunday at the Stadium that Severino “checked out well” Saturday, and that Girardi would find out later Sunday whether there are any tests planned for Severino. “I’m not sure what’s going to exactly happen,” said Girardi.

STOPPER TIME

CC Sabathia didn’t make much of the statistic Sunday, but during the past season, the big lefty had a 9-0 record (with a 1.71 ERA) in 10 starts that followed a Yankee loss. He takes the mound Monday to try and get the Bombers back into the ALCS, and it will be on the heels of two losses, although the stakes are a bit higher now.

“Just one of those stats of the year. I don’t do anything different after a win or a loss,” said Sabathia.

One thing Sabathia will have to do differently than his pitching teammates is try to keep young Astros studs Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa off the base paths. The two players are a combined 8-for-15 in the ALCS, and Altuve scored the winning run Saturday after Correa doubled off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. Against Sabathia, Altuve is lifetime 2-for-6 (.333) with a strikeout, while Correa is lifetime 0-for-2 with a walk.

“Just go out and try to be aggressive in the strike zone. Throw strikes and let them try to swing early in the count and get deeper in the game. Nothing different than I always do,” said Sabathia. “You’ve just got to try to go out and make pitches on (Correa), try to make him uncomfortable at the plate.”

Girardi said he was “not going to change my philosophy” on Sabathia for Monday’s game, which means the veteran lefty could face a relatively early hook, regardless if he’s dominating the Astros’ lineup. But Sabathia said he’s “fine where I’m at” in this stage of his career, and he added that there is nothing wrong with Girardi going to the team’s bullpen at any stage of a game.

“Top to bottom we have, I think, the best (bullpen) in the game. Just gives you confidence to go out and do whatever you can, leave it all out there, let those guys come up and clean up the mess,” said Sabathia. … Even though his last outing was awful – in Game 4 of the ALDS, when he walked two Indians in the eighth inning and departed after recording no outs while Kahnle cleaned up the damage – Dellin Betances still is an “important” cog on the Yankees in Girardi’s eyes. “I expect him to compete and pitch at a high level when I call upon him. For us to win – I’m going to say it again – he’s going to play an important role,” said Girardi. “His name is going to be called upon.”… Asked if utility player Ronald Torreyes might be a choice for DH, Girardi gave an emphatic no. “It’s not something (Torreyes) is accustomed to doing. Toe has been a guy that when he’s had success, it’s been consistent at-bats, and he’s played a lot,” said Girardi. “We’ll continue to DH the guys we are (Chase Headley, Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Holliday).”

FORMER YANKEE FAN

Houston starter Charlie Morton, who will oppose Sabathia Monday, said he grew up rooting for the Bombers. The Flemington, N.J. product said Sunday that his favorite Yankee was Derek Jeter, although he was bummed to have missed out on another team captain’s baseball card. “I remember when I was little, I remember really wanting a Don Mattingly rookie card, and I never got it,” said Morton. He also said when his family was in Tampa for spring training one year, they went to the same restaurant where Jeter was dining. “My sister was a huge Derek Jeter fan,” said Morton. “So she got excited. She walked up to him and said, ‘Hey can I have a picture of you?’ And he said, ‘Only if you smile,’ or something, being a good dude.”