Let’s assess the positives regarding CC Sabathia’s start for the Yankees on Saturday.
He retired the first five batters. He struck out four and was on pace for 15 strikeouts. He, um, he…
Did we mention he retired the first five batters?
Sabathia’s ninth start of the season quickly spiraled downhill amid the carnage of a 10-run Rangers third inning. In 2 ¹/₃ innings, Sabathia was tagged for seven hits and six earned runs while walking one and throwing a wild pitch. He was fortunate to leave when he did because matters only got worse for the Yankees, who lost their fifth straight and ninth in 10 games, 15-4, at Yankee Stadium.
“Balls were up. Everything, two-seamers. The cutter was still good. The changeup wasn’t there,” said Sabathia, whose ERA jumped from 4.67 to 5.47. “I just think the fastballs were up and they played pepper.”
It unraveled frighteningly fast for Sabathia (2-6) after he worked a 1-2-3 first inning then survived two hits in the second. Sabathia had won his two previous starts after losing five with one no-decision. Ironically, beforehand, manager Joe Girardi claimed Sabathia had “pitched better than the numbers indicate.”
Not Saturday. The numbers indicated he was bad, and the numbers didn’t lie.
“It looks like it’s just location,” Girardi said of Sabathia’s trouble.
The beginning of the end of Sabathia’s day was a walk to the No. 9 hitter then an infield hit. Shortstop Didi Gregorius got to the ball but couldn’t make a play. Then the heaven, floodgates, back door, windows all opened.
“Yeah, I mean, 3-2 pitch, that was close,” Sabathia said. “And then I gave the ball up the middle. Everything was up after that. I couldn’t get a pitch to get us out of the inning.
“It’s frustrating especially [because] we haven’t been playing well. You want to kind of put an end to that and be the guy to try to help us and I couldn’t do that.”
When Sabathia surrendered a two-run single to Elvis Andrus, it was 5-0 and Girardi yanked the lefty, who walked off to a chorus of boos. Sabathia, shut down last season in May before knee surgery, has not won at the Stadium since Sept. 20, 2013 — he’s 0-6 with a 9.42 ERA in six starts.
“It is what it is. You don’t pitch well, you get booed,” said Sabathia, who insisted he physically is OK.
“When you think about Yankee Stadium you think it favors left-handers over right-handers, so it’s really hard to put your finger on it,” Girardi said of Sabathia’s home woes. “I don’t really think there’s anything to it, it just happened.”