YANKS & CC SA-BAD-THIA
Lefty is not sharp, Bomber bats flop
PITTSBURGH — CC Sabathia was off. So were several of his teammates. They hope it was just one of those days, rather than cause for concern.
Sabathia’s velocity was down and he struggled early in the Yankees’ 6-3 loss to the Pirates on Friday night at PNC Park.
The 36-year-old lefty came in with a 1.47 ERA, but gave up a leadoff homer to Jordy Mercer on a misplaced two-seam fastball two pitches into the game. An inning later, Josh Bell belted a cutter that didn’t get far enough inside for a two-run shot to make it 4-0 Pittsburgh.
The Yankees, who left 11 men on base and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, failed to pick up Sabathia despite having their share of opportunities at the plate.
“His stuff just wasn’t sharp,” Girardi said of Sabathia (2-1), who suffered his first defeat of the season, as the Yankees fell to 2-5 on the road following an 8-1 homestand.
“It just didn’t seem like he had the good fastball that he’s had his first three starts. His cutter wasn’t good. And his slider wasn’t great and his changeup wasn’t great.”
After being clocked at about 91 mph on average with his fastball over his first three starts, Sabathia’s heater registered around 87 mph early on Friday night. He ultimately was charged with four earned runs on seven hits in five innings.
“I don’t know,” Sabathia said when asked why he didn’t have it on the mound. “I felt pretty good. My stuff was a little short. I just tried to battle and keep the game as close as possible.”
As for his lack of velocity, Sabathia, who has become a finesse pitcher at this stage of his career after overpowering opposing hitters during his prime, responded: “It is what it is. It’s a long season.”
The Yankees scored three runs in the fifth to get within 4-3, but Starlin Castro Luis Castillo’d what should’ve been the final out of the seventh, dropping Andrew McCutchen’s pop-up, which allowed Mercer to score from first. The error ultimately cost the team two runs before the inning ended.
“It’s my fault,” said Castro, who had to run a long way before the ball popped out of his glove. “It’s a play I should make -- especially in a close game like that.”
The Yankees brought the tying runs to the plate in the final two innings, but couldn’t capitalize as Matt Holliday’s pinch-hit strikeout with two on ended the eighth, and Aaron Judge’s fielder’s choice with two on ended the game. “We had chances,” Joe Girardi said. “But they made the pitches, and we just didn’t capitalize.”
Greg Bird, who went 0-for-4 and is now 5-for41 overall, narrowly missed hitting a pair of three-run homers, which both landed foul. He even could’ve been given a hit in the fifth when he beat the shift to plate a pair, as his grounder squirted past Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison, who was charged with an error.
“They were good swings, but they were foul and they don’t count,” Bird said. “I’m feeling better at the plate, though, so that’s good. I felt like I had good at-bats, so I can live with that. I just need to keep working.” Continued Bird: “We had a lot of chances tonight. Guys are doing their jobs getting on base, and myself and whoever else, I’ve got to do a better job of getting them in.”