MLB

It’s the Sabathia of old, not an old Sabathia for Yankees

MINNEAPOLIS — CC Sabathia is in this interesting and, for the Yankees, positive place. He now has built up enough innings off of the disabled list to regain rhythm in his motion and power, particularly in his legs.

But because of his two DL stints, Sabathia has about 30-40 fewer innings than is normal for him this time of year.

Thus, he is enjoying the benefits of being strong and stronger. The timing could hardly be more impeccable. Sabathia delivered eight brilliant innings for a second straight start, this time slicing up the Twins with precise fastballs and put-away sliders in what became a rare Yankees laugher, an 8-2 rout Wednesday.

You can say that the opponent matters, the hardly scary Twins. But in the game within the game, Sabathia overwhelmed Minnesota’s best hitter. He struck out Joe Mauer three times on the minimum nine pitches before inducing a groundout in the eighth.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him and I’ve been watching him for a long time,” said Mauer, whose history against Sabathia dates to Indians-Twins games in the AL Central. “He was using both sides of the plate: Fastball, slider, sinker. He threw me everything and everything was working.”

BOX SCORE

Think of the implications here if Mauer is right and Sabathia is at his best. He has just one scheduled regular season start left, Monday against the Red Sox. That would leave him in line to pitch the Division Series opener on full rest five days later. His work the past two outings pushed the Yankees closer to assuring they play in that best-of-five and avoid the perils of the knockout wild-card game or, worse, miss the postseason altogether.

“That is the guy we signed up for,” Chris Stewart said. “That is why he is here. That is why he is our ace. If we get to the playoffs, he is a tremendous boost for us.”

For a while this season, as he landed on the DL with first a groin and then an elbow issue, Sabathia appeared to be drifting from No. 1 status. All of those innings year after year felt like waves steadily eroding something as strong as rock. He had only been on the DL two times in his career, none since 2006, never for his arm. And when he came off the DL the second time, he blew leads in five straight games, the Yankees lost the last four of those and his stuff lacked the familiar crispness and vitality.

Sabathia’s genius had been built on the blend of force and finesse, particularly with his fastball. He had John Elway’s arm with Joe Montana’s touch. But in those late August/early September outings, Sabathia appeared to be trying to generate lost heart. That messed with his mechanics, short-circuited the ball-in-a-teacup meticulousness. He could get to 93 mph, but was paying a price in location to get there.

Considering Sabathia is 32 and well beyond 2,000 innings, the elite fastball appeared lost to age and wear. It seemed time to recalibrate his stuff and expectations. Hiroki Kuroda was outpitching him and maybe — if the Yankees got in — he should be the Game 1 starter.

But after these past two starts Stewart offered a different view. Sabathia was essentially rebuilding off the DL. Not just power, but cadence. Tempo in his approach and motion are vital to Sabathia. Suddenly, his strength and rhythm returned, and he was not over-exerting to muster 91-94 mph. So precision, deception and pop also came back.

“Today was a different fastball,” Stewart said. “It had more zip on it.”

Sabathia yielded a run in the second and then the Yankees scored six in the third and Sabathia looked like vintage Sabathia, which is to say no lead was getting away. Over the next four innings, he yielded one hit and struck out seven. The Yanks stretched to an 8-1 edge. Sabathia gave one back in the seventh, but his final five fastballs in the eighth of a 118-pitch effort were all 93 mph.

Joe Girardi still got edgy enough to warm David Robertson in both the eighth and ninth, almost as if by muscle memory. But the Yankees broke a 14-game string of winning by three or fewer runs and didn’t use Robertson, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain or Rafael Soriano for the first time since Kuroda pitched a complete game on Aug. 14. They had their ace and a laugher, which was no coincidence.

“I believe he is really getting back on track,” Girardi said of Sabathia.

Like his command once again, Sabathia’s timing is perfect.