Yankees Recap: CC Sabathia Stars as Hero in Streak-Busting 7-0 Victory

Mere hours after Alex Rodriguez‘s sore hamstring landed him on the 15-day DL, Yankees’ CC Sabathia took the mound desperately searching for a win to turn the club around.

The “Bombers” had been free-falling on a six-game losing streak deeper into the cellar of the AL East. With a glut of left-handed hitting Orioles in Baltimore’s lineup, New York recalled LHP James Pazos from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to serve as an additional arm in the bullpen.

Aiming to kick-start the team’s offensive production, lead-off man Jacoby Ellsbury lined a double that bounced off the right-field wall to begin the game. Brett Gardner followed by knocking a fly-out to the warning track that moved Ellsbury to third. The speedster would be thrown out at home on an infield grounder that Carlos Beltran rolled over to first, and the scoring woes seemed like they had already begun.

The Yankees passed up another opportunity in the top of the third. Baltimore’s Tyler Wilson issued a free pass to Ellsbury with two outs. He then swiped his sixth stolen bag of the season and advance to third on a passed ball in the same play. But Gardner was punched out gazing at a backdoor cutter to end the frame.

After sparkling through his first two innings, it appeared that Sabathia had run into trouble. Ryan Flaherty walked to get the O’s momentum going, and the next batter, Joey Rickard, reached on a bunt ground ball single. However, CC collected a huge first out by fanning Manny Machado on a changeup. He would then escape the inning by inducing a ground ball double play.

CC impressively dealt his way out of another Orioles’ threat in the fifth inning. Jonathan Schoop connected for a sharp double to left field, but Caleb Joseph whiffed for the first out. Flaherty put runners on the corners with a single to right, and CC responded by striking out Rickard and getting Machado to line out to Ellsbury.

In the top of the sixth, Ellsbury knocked his second hit of the night (and overall for the Yankees) into right field and stole second base again to put a RISP for Gardner with one out. Gardner forced a single into center, but the Yankees decided not to test the arm of Adam Jones and held Ellsbury at third. After Wilson and CC went toe-to-toe, each tossing five scoreless innings, Wilson would blink first by allowing Beltran to plate Ellsbury on a sacrifice fly. Brian McCann doubled the lead with an RBI-single to right.

In the same inning, Starlin Castro missed a three-run shot by about four feet to the right of the foul pole. Although, from his at bat the Yankees ended up scoring their third run on a throwing error by Wilson.

The Yankees tacked on four more insurance runs in the eighth–two from a McCann double, one on a Didi Gregorius single, and one on a bases loaded HBP–to extend their lead to 7-0.

CC’s night was done after seven immaculate innings, and his final line was the saving grace that the Yankees needed: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (lowering his early-season ERA to 3.81). Kirby Yates entered the game following the Yankees’ four-spot.

Yates would only last one-third of an inning, loading the bases and prompting Joe Girardi to use Dellin Betances in a seven-run game. The 6’8″ set-up man stranded all the ducks on the pond, striking out Chris Davis on three breaking balls and initiating a pop-up to send the game into the ninth. Truth be told, Betances likely benefited from the tune-up outing after having coughed up three homers in his previous three appearances.

After falling eight games under .500 on Tuesday, the Yankees finally found a way to stop the bleeding for a day. They took the middle-game of the series and shut-out the O’s 7-0.

New York will play the rubber match on Thursday with their ace Masahiro Tanaka (1-0, 2.87) on the bump against Kevin Gausman (0-1, 2.45). First pitch is set for 7:05 PM ET.