Start to Finish: Sabathia’s complete game lifts Yankees

The New York Yankees ace and workhorse CC Sabathia once again showed why is worth every penny of his contract. Using a tidy 103 pitches, Sabathia shut down a streaking Seattle Mariners team and helped the Yankees win their second straight game by the score of 6-3.

Sabathia, paired with Russell Martin for the first time since April, had such great stuff that he could have pitched to a bounce back net and gotten the same results. The fact that he gave up three earned runs including two homers does not tell the story of how dominant he truly was. He had a stretch of setting down 10 straight batters to start the game and another after allowing the first homer of twelve batters. He struck out ten and walked only one.

The Yankees got on the board first with two runs in the third inning on Curtis Granderson‘s two-run single. Granderson was leading off last night as Yankees manager Joe Girardi wanted to split his left-handed hitters against Mariners righty Kevin Millwood.

Sabathia allowed his first hit of the night, a home run by Casper Wells, after setting down ten straight batters to open the game. Like a true ace, Sabathia went right back to work from that point like nothing happened.

Eric Chavez hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, his tenth on the season to put the Yankees up 4-1. The Bombers would get two more in the seventh on run-scoring singles from Robinson Cano and Raul Ibanez.

Miguel Olivo doubled with one out in the eighth, but Sabathia struck out the next two batters to end threat. In the ninth, Sabathia walked the leadoff man and then allowed a home run to Dustin Ackley, bringing the Mariners within three. Joe Girardi came out to talk with the big man, but not take him out of the game. He got the next three batters out using only seven pitches and completed his second game of the season.

The Yankees (62-43) maintain a 6 1/2 game lead in the American League East over the Tampa Bay Rays, who shutout the Baltimore Orioles last night. This afternoon the Yanks send Hiroki Kuroda (10-7, 3.28 ERA) to the hill to face tough righty Felix Hernandez (9-5, 2.79 ERA). In their last meeting Hernandez hit three Yankees including Alex Rodriguez, which resulted in a broken bone in his left hand and will keep him out of the lineup until September.