On Bat Day at the Stadium, Yankees ace CC Sabathia got battered around in a 10-4 loss to Minnesota. He got hit hard, chased early and goes into the All-Star break hoping the second half of the season can’t possibly be worse than the first.
Sabathia had owned the Twins as much as Jim Pohlad, 11-0 in his last dozen starts versus Minnesota. But against a team he usually dominates, he coughed up eight runs — one shy of his career-high — in front of 43,131 fans.
“It sucks, knowing I’m not going to pitch for another week,’’ said Sabathia, who saw his arm angle drop too low, his fastball run back in and his first half end on a sour note. “I struggled with pretty much everything. The fastball, they were jumping on it early, and my secondary pitches hurt me.’’
Sabathia got hurt quickly, lasting just four innings for his shortest outing not interrupted by rain since Oct. 2, 2009. The Yankees had little to play for in that game, and if they hope to play meaningful baseball this October, Sabathia has to improve over a first half that saw him go 9-8 with a bloated 4.07 ERA.
“That’s terrible. I’m not pitching very well,’’ said Sabathia, who matched his career-high for first-half losses. “I look forward to the break, but [also to] pitching better in the second half.’’
History and the back of his baseball card say he will. He has always been a second-half pitcher, 110-62 with a career 3.69 ERA before the All-Star break but 90-48 with a 3.32 ERA after.
“I thought this stretch of 20 games he threw the ball pretty well. He had some good starts in there,’’ said manager Joe Girardi. “But it’s a little bit surprising, because we’re used to seeing him get on a 10-, 11-, 12-game roll, and it just hasn’t happened this year.’’
To be fair, five of the runs Sabathia allowed were unearned, and his teammates didn’t give him much help in the field. But he simply couldn’t finish off the Twins hitters on a hot, sweaty afternoon at the Stadium.
Consecutive two-out RBI singles by No. 8 and 9 hitters Jamey Carroll and Pedro Florimon left Sabathia down 2-0 in the second inning. He was an out away from escaping the third but shortstop Eduardo Nunez’s error left the door open, and the very next pitch, Sabathia served up a ball that Aaron Hicks crushed to left for a three-run home run and a 5-0 hole.
“I just felt bad for CC because he was doing all he could do,’’ said Nunez.
“I need to pick [Nunez] up, that’s the immediate thought,’’ said Sabathia. “It’s just frustrating. We’re close to scoring runs, breaking through and I come out and put us in a bigger hole.’’
In the fourth, a Brian Dozier bloop hit a divot and scooted away from center fielder Ichiro Suzuki for a double, and an error by first baseman Lyle Overbay helped lead to three more runs and an 8-1 deficit.
“[Errors] are just part of the game. I’ve got to make better pitches to try and help these guys out,’’ said Sabathia. “They bail me out of situations all the time, so it’s just frustrating not being able to bail these guys out when we do make mistakes.’’