The Yankees got Alfonso Soriano back last night and hope to get Derek Jeter back this weekend. Curtis Granderson is getting closer and even the Yankees admit Alex Rodriguez is making progress.
If only they could find a way for the old CC Sabathia to return.
The left-hander slogged through his third straight abysmal start in last night’s 10-6 loss to the Rays, as the Yankees’ ninth-inning rally fell short.
Sabathia surrendered seven runs in five innings and has allowed at least seven runs in each of his last three outings for the first time in his career.
Once again, he reviewed himself succinctly.
“I’ve sucked,” Sabathia said. “Especially with the way we’ve been battling and are right in the middle of this thing. I feel if I can help us out, we’d be doing a lot better. Not getting [any] help from me is making it tougher.”
Sabathia fell to 9-9, already more losses than he has had in any season with the Yankees, and has dropped three straight decisions. He has also already surrendered more earned runs (76) than he did all of last season (75).
Despite last year’s elbow surgery, Sabathia said he felt “fine” and Joe Girardi said he believed him.
“He’s had no complaints physically about how he feels,” said Girardi, who thought Sabathia was done in by the fact he left too many pitches up in the zone. “He’s gone out there every fifth day on his turn and hasn’t complained of any ailments.”
But even the manager admitted to being dumbfounded by Sabathia’s run of failure.
“It’s pretty rare,” Girardi said. “You don’t see it very often, as good as he’s been. It’s just really shocking, what he’s going through. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see what we can come up with before next Friday.”
James Loney’s three-run homer off Adam Warren in the seventh seemed like little more than an afterthought until the Yankees followed up a two-run eighth with a charge in the ninth.
Five straight batters reached base as they got run-scoring singles from Melky Mesa and David Adams — who had come off the bench to replace Ichiro Suzuki and Robinson Cano, respectively. Soriano grounded into a force out for another run, but Chris Stewart, who came in for Lyle Overbay, grounded out off closer Fernando Rodney to end the game.
The trade with the Cubs that netted Soriano didn’t become official until after the Yankees were on the field for batting practice and he ended up going 0 for 5, but the night’s major culprit was Sabathia, who was outdueled by Jeremy Hellickson (10-3).
Sabathia coughed up six runs in the second — tied for the most runs he has given up in a frame with the Yankees.
Five of them came with two outs, including Evan Longoria’s two-run double that resulted in a loud chorus of boos directed at Sabathia.
“That’s the most frustrating part,” Girardi said. “You can live with giving up one; you can live with giving up two, but when it’s a six-spot, that’s pretty difficult [to overcome].”
As harsh as Sabathia has been on himself, he wasn’t overly discouraged by how he’s throwing.
“All I can do is keep working,” Sabathia said. “I feel like my stuff is a lot better. I feel like it’s back and a lot better. I’m just not making pitches. … Everyone faces adversity and tough times in this game and it’s up to me to go out and pitch better.”