ANAHEIM, Calif. — Scott Kazmir on eight days’ rest vs. CC Sabathia on three. Joe Girardi had better be right about his hunch on Sabathia tonight, or the Yankees could be in deep trouble.
After all, Girardi employed seven relievers yesterday in Game 3 of the ALCS, leaving you to wonder about the state of his bullpen should Sabathia falter on short rest.
“We didn’t really stretch out any of our pitchers too far today out of the bullpen,” Girardi said after the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Angels in 11 innings. “So, I believe our guys will be fine.”
If there is anybody on this Angels staff capable of taming the Yankees, it’s Kazmir. The 25-year-old lefty owns a 2.67 ERA in 14 career starts against them, even if his messy 2009 season persuaded the Rays to finally give up on him.
Sabathia has been everything the Yankees could have wanted. He won 19 games in the regular season and owns a 2-0 record with a 1.23 ERA this postseason.
The last time Sabathia pitched on three days’ rest, during last season’s NLDS for the Brewers, he came unraveled. The lefty allowed five earned runs over 3 2/3 innings, but the Yankees would like to believe Sabathia has been rested enough over the last month that fatigue won’t be a factor.
“You know that going on [short] rest that you’re not going to have your best fastball,” Sabathia said. “You’ve just got to stay under control and make sure I go out there and throw strikes.”
Kazmir last pitched in Game 3 of the ALDS, when he surrendered five earned runs over six innings against the Red Sox. The former Mets prospect was acquired in August, in a waiver deal with the Rays. The Angels are encouraged by the fact he went 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA for them after posting a 5.92 ERA for Tampa Bay.
“I have faced [the Yankees] quite a bit,” Kazmir said. “There is not going to be disadvantages or advantages for anyone. They’ve seen me. I’ve seen them. We’re both sitting in the same boat. I just have to execute pitches.”
Sabathia doesn’t view three days rest as a disadvantage. But the numbers tell a different story. Since Game 5 of the 2004 NLDS between Houston and Atlanta, pitchers on short rest in the postseason against fully-rested counterparts are 0-7.
“I don’t think it’s that big a deal going on three days’ rest,” Sabathia said. “Everybody made such a big deal of it last year. If healthy enough during the year, anybody is able to do it.”