NEW YORK -- Three weeks ago, the Guardians were approaching the Trade Deadline seeking to stabilize a starting rotation plagued by instability all season. When they summoned left-hander Joey Cantillo from Triple-A Columbus for his big league debut in Philadelphia on July 21, that rotation had lost three of its five Opening Day members and lacked a fifth starter.

Cleveland did go out and get reinforcements, bringing in veteran lefty Matthew Boyd and then trading for Alex Cobb in a Deadline deal with the Giants. But flash forward to Wednesday, and the Guardians are in more or less the same place they were last month. Boyd entered the rotation as Carlos Carrasco (another Opening Day member) was sidelined with hip issues, and Cobb joined Carrasco on the injured list after fracturing a nail on his throwing hand in his second start with the team.

On Wednesday, the Guardians again summoned the 24-year-old Cantillo, who struggled throughout the team¡¯s 8-1 loss to the Yankees in the Bronx. Juan Soto and Aaron Judge combined to drive in all seven runs Cantillo allowed over four innings, dropping Cleveland¡¯s No. 17 prospect to 0-3 with an 8.47 ERA through four big league starts.

¡°Joey is learning every time out,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°We¡¯re throwing him against the big boys. ¡­ In his first three, he gave us a chance to win in all of them.¡±

All four of Cantillo¡¯s outings have come against contenders: the Phillies, Orioles, Twins and Yankees. He completed four innings or fewer in three of them and allowed at least three runs in each.

¡°Tonight was about commanding his two best pitches, his changeup and curveball,¡± Vogt said. ¡°He just did not have command of those two.¡±

Facing New York¡¯s power-laden lineup in its hitter-friendly ballpark was never a great matchup for Cantillo, a left-hander who relies more on command than stuff. He allowed a two-run homer to Soto in the first and another to Judge in the third, and Soto used an excuse-me swing to punch a three-run double down the third-base line in the fourth.

The Guardians' offense followed its six-run 12th inning outburst in Tuesday¡¯s series opener by being blanked for seven innings by Nestor Cortes, before Jhonkensy Noel cracked a solo homer off Tim Mayza in the eighth.

¡°I've just got to be better, and I will be better,¡± Cantillo said. ¡°I just want to do my job and execute pitches and pitch deeper into games.¡±

The Guardians leaned on an overwhelming strength of their roster, their MLB-best bullpen, to outlast the Yankees in Tuesday¡¯s 12-inning grind. But Wednesday exposed one of their primary weaknesses: rotation depth.

That they¡¯ve used 12 starters isn¡¯t particularly unusual or noteworthy, relative to the league or franchise history. It¡¯s more about the magnitude of the turnover behind Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively, their top two starters.

Cleveland lost ace Shane Bieber to injury in April. Two other Opening Day rotation pieces -- Triston McKenzie and Logan Allen -- are in Triple-A. The 37-year-old Carrasco lugged a 5.64 ERA to the IL. Gavin Williams -- who will start the series finale Thursday (1:05 p.m. ET on MLB.TV) -- didn¡¯t make his season debut until early July. Boyd is only two starts removed from Tommy John surgery.

Cobb hadn¡¯t pitched all year before his team debut on Aug. 9 because of a variety of health issues, and now he¡¯s expected to miss at least two more starts due to the finger problem. Cobb¡¯s nail needs to grow back before he can return to the mound. Vogt said on Tuesday the club didn¡¯t know how long that would need to happen. But even if Cobb isn¡¯t sidelined long, it¡¯s another interruption in a season full of them, and it could make it harder for him to get into a groove once he returns.

¡°The most frustrating part is, it¡¯s a good lineup, but you can still get through the lineup,¡± Cantillo said. ¡°We saw Boyd do that really well yesterday. After some early contact, he managed through the lineup. And I think we¡¯re going to see Gavin do that tomorrow. I just think I didn¡¯t execute pitches, and there were some at-bats specifically when I let them back in. It comes down to executing. I have to be a lot better. That¡¯s on me.¡±