EIGHT IS TOO MUCH: CC Sabathia delivers during his eight-inning start against the Red Sox last night. Post columnist Ken Davidoff wonders why Joe Girardi would leave his ace in a blowout with the playoffs on deck. (Paul J. Bereswill)
All right, so the Yankees control their own American League East destiny once again. They need only beat up twice more on the walking dead wearing Red Sox uniforms to clinch the division title and avoid the feared wild-card game.
And they had best achieve that mission, best avoid that wild-card contest Friday — even better, grab that top seed in the league — if they don’t want to face questions over what should’ve been a question-free affair last night.
The Yankees pounded the somnambulant Red Sox, 10-2, and thanks to Tampa Bay’s 5-3 victory over Baltimore, they grabbed a one-game lead over Buck Showalter’s magic makers in this ultra-intense divisional race. A four-homer, nine-run second inning set the pace early for a laugher.
But if it was a laugher, with so many scenarios still swirling for these Yankees, then why did team ace CC Sabathia go all the way through the eighth inning, throwing 103 pitches, to lock up his victory?
“Because his pitch count was low,” Joe Girardi said. “The one guy you’re trying to stay away from today is David Robertson. The last out he got today was his last hitter.”
Echoed Sabathia: “The bullpen has been working a lot. They’ve been throwing a lot. Once they got the lead, I wanted to go as long and deep as possible and try to get these guys a rest.”
Oh, OK. That makes sense. Let’s move onto the next subj…
…Wait a minute. Timeout. Girardi was worried about using Robertson — the eighth-inning setup man — in a blowout against a team that started a minor-league lineup and stopped trying sometime around Flag Day?
When he has an expanded roster featuring such inessential relievers as Freddy Garcia (who pitched the ninth), Cory Wade and Adam Warren?
Really?
Let’s try to inject some fairness into the conversation. Sabathia exerted about as much effort last night as would a family shucking corn. He pitched six of his eight innings with that sizeable advantage. It’s not like his pitch count soared into the 120 range.
OK, enough with the fairness. We’re talking about a pitcher who has been on the disabled list twice this season, the second time with a left elbow problem. And we’re talking about a season that, thanks to the new playoff structure, faces myriad scenarios in the coming days.
We’re also talking about a pitcher who, by completing the eighth, reached exactly 200 innings on the season, his sixth straight season reaching that milestone.
“It wasn’t [on my mind], but definitely, you want to be able to say that you threw as many innings as you can,” Sabathia said. “I went on the DL a couple of times and still was able to get 200 innings. It feels good.”
Girardi denied knowing about Sabathia’s innings total and said it wasn’t a factor in his decision-making.
“I’m not worried about Friday. I’m worried about today,” Girardi said. “And now that today is over, I’m worried about tomorrow. I think if you start thinking too far ahead, you can get yourself in a bad position. We’ve got [David] Phelpsie going [tonight]. I want a full bullpen. I think that’s important.”
Unquestionably. And he still would’ve had a full bullpen had he asked Garcia to show up in the seventh or eighth — again, versus a team mailing it in — rather than the ninth.
If the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, then Sabathia will take his next turn on normal rest Saturday or Sunday in ALDS Game 1. Yet we know by now to assume nothing in this 2012 Yankees season, so sure, there exists the possibility that the Yankees could stumble tonight and/or tomorrow and wind up with the wild-card contest on Friday.
Would you really want Phil Hughes taking his turn there, if you’re the Yankees, especially if Andy Pettitte is needed for a divisional tiebreaker Thursday in Baltimore? Nah. You’d go to Sabathia on three days’ rest.
“Of course,” Sabathia said, when asked if he could pitch on short rest. “…It’s time to go. It’s time to put up or shut up. I want the ball.”
This could work out just fine. However, this was a head-scratching call on a night that should’ve been replete with no-brainers. It won’t take long at all, just a few days, for us to learn whether this was a damaging decision or the right one.
kdavidoff@nypost.com