SANCHEZ POWERS YANKS OVER KC:
KANSAS CITY — CC Sabathia desperately needed this one. In his previous four starts, the 36-year-old lefty had allowed a staggering 22 earned runs on 30 hits in just 20.2 innings for a 9.58 ERA. And you wondered how long he could remain in the rotation if he kept pitching poorly — even if he certainly deserved more time to figure it out.
But on Tuesday night, Sabathia finally had command of all his pitches — most important of all, his cutter — attacking the strike zone and getting help from the fielders behind him.
It added up to a strong 6.2-inning, 85-pitch bounce-back outing by the $25 million man in the Yankees’ 7-1 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
“I love pitching here,” said Sabathia, whose 13 victories at “The K” are tied for the most as a visitor. “It’s my favorite park. I love the fountains. I just love this park. I feel very comfortable here.” Sabathia allowed no runs on five hits, walked two and struck out four. Having his cutter for the first time in a long time helped. So did locating to the edges of the plate against Kansas City’s aggressive lineup.
“This team has been playing really well, so you want to be part that and not the reason we’re losing a game once a week,” Sabathia said.
Joe Girardi was confident things would turn around for Sabathia, who had compiled a 1.47 ERA in his first three starts of 2017. And on Tuesday night, they did. “I think it was pretty important for him,” Girardi said. “He’d been pretty frustrated with the way things had been going, not being able to pitch like he was early in the season. So I think it was pretty important.” The Royals hit a few balls hard. But the Yankees’ fielders were there to turn those potential hits into outs. Chase Headley robbed Alcides Escobar twice — the first time in self-defense as Escobar led off by lining a rocket right at the third baseman with Headley playing in. Headley later dove to his left to rob Escobar of extra bases in the sixth.
“I’m glad he saw that first ball,” Girardi said, laughing. “Because that would’ve hurt.”
Sabathia also benefited in the fifth when Brett Gardner threw out Jorge Soler as he was trying to stretch a single into a double. “I got lucky in a way with these guys picking me up today,” Sabathia said.
Normally, Sabathia just tries to keep the Yankees in the game and needs his hitters to bail him out. But this time, batterymate Gary Sanchez (three-run shot) and struggling first baseman Chris Carter (two-run shot) spotted him an early 5-0 cushion with a pair of homers that traveled a combined 845 feet over the centerfield wall. Sabathia took care of the rest. “He’s an impactful hitter,” Girardi said of Sanchez, who had gone 3-for-13 at the plate in three games against the Astros. “He can change the complexion of the game pretty quickly, and he did that tonight.”
Sabathia clearly didn’t want to come out of the game after allowing an infield single to Alex Gordon that loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. But Tyler Clippard struck out Whit Merrifield after the switch, picking up the big man.
“I understand,” Sabathia said, laughing. “But I never want to come out of a game during an inning. I just wanted to finish it off. Joe told me we have a bunch of games in a row, so if you can get the rest, get the rest.”
The Yankees hope it’s the start of an upward trend for Sabathia.