How do you heal baseball frostbite? If you’re the Yankees, you apply as many CCs of red-hot pitching as you can.
On a frosty Bronx night that featured a beefy wind dancing in from left field, ace CC Sabathia sizzled, hurling the Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the clumsy Angels in Game 1 of the ALCS that was witnessed by a chilled Yankee Stadium crowd of 49,688.
Game 2 is slated for tonight, weather permitting, when the Yankees can take a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series. A.J. Burnett is scheduled to start for the Yankees and will be opposed by left-hander Joe Saunders.
PHOTOS: YANKEES BEAT ANGELS TO TAKE ALCS LEAD
Sabathia, pitted against John Lackey, proved for the second time this postseason the Yankees knew what they were doing when they showered the large lefty with $161 million of George Steinbrenner’s money last December.
“When he pitches like that, you don’t have to score many runs,” Mark Teixeira said.
Sabathia, who won Game 1 of the ALDS against the Twins, allowed a run and four hits in eight innings last night. Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs for his MLB-record 36th postseason save. In two postseason starts for the Yankees, Sabathia is 2-0 and matched his career October victory total from before he donned pinstripes.
“He had it all working tonight,” Alex Rodriguez said.
Three Angels errors led to two of the Yankees’ four runs being unearned. And a colossal first-inning communication breakdown by third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar really cost the Angels.
“We haven’t seen our guys crack the door open for a team like we did tonight,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “CC pitched a great game and we cracked the door open.”
Hideki Matsui drove in two runs and Derek Jeter and Rodriguez plated one each.
With the first-pitch temperature at 45 degrees and the wind biting, Robinson Cano, Teixeira, Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher covered their ears with cloth under the hats, but the cold didn’t bother Sabathia.
“CC is a bulldog, that’s why I tried to recruit him,” Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. “He wasn’t cold at all. There is a lot of meat on him. He is a big boy.”
Lackey, who worked in short sleeves, was torpedoed by two first-inning miscues. First, left fielder Juan Rivera made a costly throwing error, then Figgins and Aybar watched Matsui’s infield pop fall for an RBI single later in the inning.
Lackey hurt himself in the sixth when he walked No. 9 hitter Melky Cabrera with two outs and threw wildly trying to pick him off first. Jeter followed with a single to center that scooted off Hunter’s glove, allowing Cabrera to score easily and Jeter to make second.
In 5 2/3 innings, Lackey allowed four runs (two earned), nine hits, walked three and fanned three.
The Angels’ vaunted marbles-in-the-bathtub attack which has hurt the Yankees in previous Octobers, was stymied as the Bombers scored twice in the first inning and Figgins, the leadoff hitter, went 0-for-4.
“I was trying to command both sides of the plate and was able to do that early,” said Sabathia, who stranded a runner in each of the first two innings. “It opened it up and made the change-up a lot better. So late in the game I went to the change-ups with two strikes. When I needed to get a swing and a miss, the change-up was there for me.”