The thick tears falling from heaven presented a tougher challenge to CC Sabathia than the limp Mariners bats did.
With one out in the sixth inning and the Yankees’ ace working on a perfect game at Yankee Stadium last night, play was halted for a half-hour because a sudden downpour.
Three batters later, Brendan Ryan dumped a one-out single into left-center in the seventh inning and Sabathia’s chance at his first no-hitter and the fourth perfect game in Yankees history vanished.
“There was no doubt in my mind if he gets to go through he gets the no-hitter,” third baseman Eric Chavez said of Sabathia, who settled for a 4-1 victory in front of 46,132 who had to sit through an additional 14-minute delay prior to the home seventh.
Watching Sabathia plow through the first 19 Mariners, fanning a dozen, it was easy to embrace the belief that the big lefty’s stuff was no-hit caliber.
It didn’t take catcher Francisco Cervelli long to start thinking Sabathia was on the verge of something special.
“The first inning,” Cervelli said when asked the time he started thinking Sabathia could no-hit the worst hitting team in the majors. “Because of the way he was throwing.”
Sabathia, who improved to 15-5 and is 8-1 in his past nine games, takes everything in stride. Yet he was very aware the perfect game was in play.
“You know you haven’t worked out of the stretch, you know that from the first pitch,” said Sabathia, who whiffed seven straight from the fourth to the sixth and finished with a career-high 14 strikeouts. He allowed a run and three walks.
Ryan, who was 3-for-7 lifetime against Sabathia, worked the first 2-0 count against Sabathia. Then it was a 94-mph fastball that the right-handed-hitting shortstop deposited in short left-center.
“A little disappointed, but I was focused on not letting it affect me,” Sabathia said of the only hit he allowed in seven-plus innings.
While there was no doubt in Sabathia’s mind he would return following the 30-minute delay, he wasn’t sure about coming out after the second stoppage. But he did, and manager Joe Girardi immediately noticed a difference in his ace’s stuff.
“His slider got bigger,” Girardi said.
Sabathia walked the first three batters in the eighth and was replaced by David Robertson, who responded by striking out two and trading a run for an out on a grounder to third baseman Eric Chavez.
Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira each hit his 28th homer, and Derek Jeter and Chavez, who returned from the disabled list to play his first game since early May, also drove in runs.
Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs for his 26th save.
The victory enabled the Yankees to stay two games back of the AL East-leading Red Sox.
Mariners manager Eric Wedge was saddled with the club’s franchise-record 17th straight loss, but paid tribute to Sabathia.
“CC was as good as we’ve seen him. Still in the end, we had a shot. Bases loaded late, got a three-run ballgame and we were only able to push one across,” Wedge said. “CC dominated throughout.”
Girardi was like everybody else in the building while watching Sabathia, who is 11-4 career against the Mariners, carve up hitter after hitter.
“He got through the fifth, you thought it was possible,” Girardi said. “His stuff was that good.”
In the end, Sabathia had what was most important to him: a win.
Had the crying sky not come into play, that win might have created a souvenir.