All year long, there was one constant in the Yankees’ starting rotation: CC Sabathia was the ace and he would get the ball in Game 1 of the ALDS.
They didn’t count on him pitching only two innings. That’s how long the lefty lasted last night against Detroit before the game was suspended by rain in The Bronx.
Manager Joe Girardi said he does not intend to bring the lefty back until they get to Detroit on Monday for Game 3. But Sabathia, who built a name for himself by pitching important games on short rest, sounded willing to pitch in tomorrow’s Game 2.
“If you ask him, he’d probably go out there and pitch [tonight],” Andruw Jones said. “But no matter what he says, you have to worry about the long run.”
Jones wasn’t far off about how quickly Sabathia thinks he can bounce back.
“I can see [tomorrow],” Sabathia said. “I only threw 27 pitches, but I did do a full warmup, so we’ll see. . . . If that means I get the ball as many times as possible, I’m all for it.”
Girardi quickly ruled that out.
“I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” Girardi said. “Just because when you’re talking about a real heavy bullpen [session], this is more than a bullpen.”
The suspension leaves Ivan Nova to pick up the game tonight — with the score tied 1-1 in the middle of the second inning — and Freddy Garcia pitching Game 2 tomorrow.
“We were looking forward to CC pitching two games, but you have to roll with the punches,” Mark Teixeira said.
Despite not being able to contribute as much as he wanted, Sabathia believed it would not be too much of a setback for the team.
“There was so much build-up and anticipation coming into the game, the playoffs, and to have it rained out is disappointing,” Sabathia said. “I’m confident in our guys. Nova has had a great year and Freddy pitched well. I don’t want to sit here and say, ‘If I don’t pitch, we can’t win,’ because we’ve been doing it all year.”
Sabathia was solid in his 27-pitch outing against the Tigers. He gave up a two-out solo homer to Delmon Young in the first, but retired the side 1-2-3 in the second and had four strikeouts in all.
“It was only two innings, but yeah, I was getting ahead,” Sabathia said. “The counts were better. I felt pretty good.”
He also said he was not bothered when he slipped on the mound in his final pitch of the night, which struck out Ryan Raburn.
“I didn’t even know I slipped until I watched it on TV,” Sabathia said.
Sabathia said he was ready to come back into the game when the tarp briefly came off the field before another downpour ended everyone’s night early.
Girardi lamented losing his ace after such a short outing.
“He did look sharp, [but] what are you going to do?” Girardi said. “It’s too late to put a roof on.”