In the middle of the third inning, CC Sabathia provided no sign that his third start was going to be any different than the first two pedestrian outings.
Fastball command wasn’t there and the velocity was lower than it had been. And when light-hitting Jamey Carroll laced an RBI single to right with one out in the third, the Twins had an early two-run bulge.
Then Sabathia did what aces are paid very well to do: He turned the Twins’ bats to dust and pitched the Yankees to an 8-3 victory in front of 40,194 at Yankee Stadium.
A talk with Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild reinforced simple principles that played a big part in Sabathia taking command of the game.
“Stay on top of the fastball and keep my arm up,’’ Sabathia said of Rothschild’s advice. “After the third inning, I felt a lot better I was able to get my command down.’’
From Carroll’s hit until Trevor Plouffe walked with two outs in the seventh, Sabathia retired 13 straight and watched the Yankees score four in the third, one in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the seventh.
Starting for the second time against a lefty, Brett Gardner went 2-for-2, scored three runs, drove in a run, stole a base and made a diving catch to end the third. Gardner initially was concerned he had injured his right wrist.
“I was worried coming [into the dugout], I could feel it,’’ said Gardner, who got the start because he was 5-for-12 (.417) against Twins starter, lefty Francisco Liriano. “As the game went on it felt better and better. I am not concerned about it.’’
Anemic-hitting catcher Chris Stewart contributed a two-run double in the third when the Yankees took a 5-3 lead and chased Liriano.
“That was the biggest hit we had all year,’’ Gardner said of Stewart’s double to left that chased Liriano.
Gardner and Stewart weren’t alone in the production department. Derek Jeter drove in two runs, Nick Swisher, Andruw Jones and Eduardo Nunez had two hits each. And Jones homered.
“Hitting is always a bonus,’’ Stewart said.
Rothschild downplayed his role in getting Sabathia straight.
“He got his arm where it should be,’’ Rothschild said of the pitcher so vital to a rotation full of question marks behind him. “Basically he got on top of the ball. He has a tendency to hit his stride in the third inning.’’
Working with a fastball that was in the 91-mph range actually helped Sabathia be sharp with other pitches.
“The changeup was better and the curveball was pretty good tonight,’’ said Sabathia, who allowed three runs and four hits in 7 1⁄3 innings and left with 112 pitches. “I didn’t feel the velocity was there like the first couple of games.’’
In his first two starts, Sabathia didn’t resemble a staff ace. And when Carroll delivered an RBI single to extend the Twins’ lead to 3-1, it didn’t look as if Sabathia was going to be much better last night.
And then he was and you could hear Yankees from the dugout to the offices exhale because if there is one starter they can’t afford to stress over, it’s Sabathia.
george.king@nypost.com