NEW YORK — Trevor Cahill couldn’t offer much explanation Friday night, and none was needed.

The numbers told the story of the right-hander’s worst outing as a major leaguer.

Cahill was tagged for a career-high 10 earned runs as the A’s absorbed a 17-7 smackdown from the New York Yankees.

He was gone after two-plus innings, the shortest start of his career, and allowed nine hits.

Some were cheapies, others were rockets.

And they all did damage.

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Cahill said. “You feel like you let your team down when you can’t go past two innings, especially when they show early that they’re going put some runs on the board for you.”

If it’s any consolation, there was plenty of misery to go around Oakland’s clubhouse. The A’s have lost to the Yankees 11 straight times and 25 of 29.

“I have no idea (why),” catcher Kurt Suzuki said. “I wish I had an answer for that. We just can’t get the job done, plain and simple.”

Cahill (8-9) is 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA in four starts against the Yankees.

The two worst outings of his career have now come in the Bronx. He allowed eight earned runs in four innings on Aug. 30, 2010, his first appearance at Yankee Stadium.

After being spotted a 2-0 lead, he allowed five runs in the bottom of the second, though much of the damage came in nickel-and-dime nature.

Robinson Cano led off with a single that got by right fielder David DeJesus for an error

that put the Yankee at second. Eduardo Nunez singled softly to the opposite field to score one run, and Brett Gardner’s infield single scored another.

With the bases loaded, Derek Jeter poked a two-run single just past a diving Conor Jackson at first base, and Curtis Granderson’s sacrifice fly made it 5-2.

Then the wheels came off as the Yankees batted around in a nine-run third, the most runs the A’s have allowed in a single inning since the St. Louis Cardinals scored 10 on June 16, 2007.

Cahill walked Mark Teixeira to lead off the third. Cano launched a double deep to center, and Nick Swisher teed off on a 3-2 pitch for a three-run homer. After consecutive singles by Jorge Posada and Nunez, Cahill gave way to Michael Wuertz.

The 10 earned runs were the most allowed by an A’s pitcher since Gio Gonzalez gave up 11 to the Minnesota Twins on July 20, 2009.

“The second inning was a big inning,” Cahill said. “You try to regroup, and before you know it I was out there, and the same thing was happening again.”

Wuertz issued two bases-loaded walks and then served up Teixeira’s grand slam. New York led 14-2 by the end of the inning.

Swisher went 3 for 4 and tied his career high with five RBIs against his former team.

Cliff Pennington hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs to lead the A’s, who allowed their most runs since the Colorado Rockies scored 18 on July 18, 2000.

First-pitch temperature was 100 degrees, the hottest game on record at Yankee Stadium since 1999. And manager Bob Melvin said a slippery grip was the reason he pulled Joey Devine after Devine walked all three batters he faced in the seventh.

Melvin was asked if the Yankees have a mental edge on the A’s based on their recent dominance.

“It is a long losing streak,” he said, “but I’d hate to think it gets in your head.”

NEW YORK — Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez are well aware of the New York Yankees’ rich history. It’s their own history against the Yankees that they want to forget.

New York has given both pitchers fits over their big league careers. If the A’s hope to reverse the lopsided trend in this series — they have lost 10 in a row and 24 of 28 to the Yankees — that effort hinges greatly on their top two starters solving the riddle of how to beat them.

“I feel like that’s the only team I’ve never really had a decent start against,” Cahill said. “To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”

The Yankees are the only American League team Cahill has yet to defeat.

He’s 0-3 with a 9.72 ERA in three starts against them, and he gave up a career-high eight earned runs in just four innings in his only start at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 30, 2010.

His next shot comes Friday, when the A’s open a three-game series in the Bronx.

Gonzalez, who starts Sunday’s finale, impressed in his first outing against New York in 2009. He allowed two hits over 62/3 innings and got the win at Yankee Stadium.

But since then, he’s lost three straight starts to New York, all at home, having allowed a combined 14 earned runs with 14 walks in 142/3 innings.

“These guys can go cold on you for maybe a couple of innings,” Gonzalez said. “And all of a sudden — bam! — out of nowhere, it just takes one little hit that changes the whole

game. It just piles on after that.”

Cahill — 8-8 with a 3.16 ERA this season — said he got caught up in the mystique of the Yankees’ 27 World Series championships last July, when he pitched against them for the first time at the Coliseum.

He surrendered two homers to Alex Rodriguez — including a grand slam — in a 6-1 A’s loss.

“It was the first time last year, with their history, one of the best-known franchises in all of sports,” Cahill said. “I guess the biggest thing is going in there and not thinking about it too much, not being scared.”

A key for Gonzalez, who is 9-6 with a 2.33 ERA, is pitching aggressively.

In 211/3 career innings against New York, Gonzalez has issued 17 walks.

“If you’re too cautious, you’re in trouble because they’re a very patient team,” Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Though the Yankees no longer play in the House that Ruth Built — the new Yankee Stadium replaced the original ballpark in 2009 — A’s broadcaster and former big league catcher Ray Fosse said psychological toughness is a requirement for young pitchers when facing the Yankees in their park.

New York averages 44,359 fans per home game this season, second in the majors behind Philadelphia, and Yankee fans are considered some of the majors’ most rabid.

“There’s the intimidation factor,” Fosse said. “(It’s important) for a pitcher to get off to a good start, get run support and get the crowd out of the game.”

Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander puts less stock in the “mystique” theory, and more into the fact that the Yankees’ possess a star-studded lineup.

New York boasts an MVP candidate in center fielder Curtis Granderson (26 HRs, 70 RBIs, 85 runs), first baseman Mark Teixeira (25 HRs, 67 RBIs), second baseman Robinson Cano — who finished third in last year’s AL MVP race — and shortstop Derek Jeter, the Yankees’ all-time hits leader with 3,009.

Three-time AL MVP third baseman Alex Rodriguez is expected to be sidelined at least another month with a knee injury.

“The toughest part with facing a lineup like that is you don’t get any breathers,” Verlander said. “You get a couple guys on base in a big situation, and it’s not a .220 hitter coming up with two home runs, it’s a .300-and-30 guy.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin believes Cahill and Gonzalez — and Saturday starter Rich Harden — will be up to the task this weekend.

“These guys have all played there before,” Melvin said. “You know it’s a good team. You have to execute to beat them, but you have to expect to execute, and we do.”