LEFT OUT: CC Sabathia, pitching in the first inning last night, held the Athletics scoreless for eight innings but did not pick up the win as the Yankees won, 2-1, in 10 innings. (Neil Miller)
CC Sabathia’s elbow is fine. The questions about health ended with his super performance last night.
The big man is back in a big way. If the Yankees are to win the AL East and do damage in the postseason, this is the type of outing they need from the lefty.
Sabathia pitched eight shutout innings in a dramatic 2-1, 10-inning victory over the A’s at Yankee Stadium that was made possible when Russell Martin slammed a leadoff home run in the 10th inning after Rafael Soriano blew the save in the ninth.
A smiling Sabathia said it was “nice’’ not to have to answer any elbow questions. He struck out 11 hitters, one short of his season high. Sabathia admitted that having extra time off helped his performance. He had not pitched in a week and this time of year a little bit of extra rest can go a long way.
“He had more life on his fastball,’’ Martin, his catcher, said. “I’ve always said when he has more life on his fastball, every other pitch is better. Hitters have to start the bat a little earlier to catch up to the fastball. Then you can throw sinkers down and away.
“For CC, it’s been tough to put guys away and tonight he had the stuff to put guys away.’’
Yes, he did. Sabathia struck out the side in the fifth after the Yankees gave him a 1-0 lead.
“CC was [expletive] awesome,’’ Nick Swisher said. “That is what he is capable of doing every single time he takes the mound. He had that snapdragon working tonight and he owned his fastball.’’
Snapdragon is baseball slang for the back-door slider and that was just one of the many pitches Sabathia had working for him. The Yankees needed them all considering they lost four one-run games to the A’s in Oakland.
Sabathia threw 113 pitches, 71 for strikes. He allowed just three singles, walked two and hit one batter. When he got in a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, he got the dangerous Josh Reddick to fly to left. “On a fastball away,’’ Sabathia said.
This was the deepest Sabathia had gone in a game since his complete-game victory over the Mariners on Aug. 3, and it was the kind of performance the Yankees have been waiting for from Sabathia all season. Considering the state of the offense — especially when they come up against solid pitching — without Sabathia at his best, the Yankees would have no chance, even if they make it to the postseason.
Sabathia said his game plan was to establish his fastball early.
“That’s the way I pitch,’’ he said. “I was able to go in and out and get some swings and misses. I was able to hit my spots and command the inside part of the plate.’’
After a 24-pitch first inning, Sabathia needed just 89 pitches over the next seven innings and did not allow a hit until Stephen Drew led off the sixth with a single to center. Sabathia has not allowed more than two walks in 17 straight starts. He was watching from the clubhouse when Martin homered.
“That was huge,” Sabathia said. “We haven’t had a lot of walk-off here since 2011. With the race being as tight as it is, it feels good.’’
With Andy Pettitte’s return, the starting pitching outlook is a whole lot brighter today for the Yankees as they won their sixth straight to stay a game ahead of the Orioles, who beat the Red Sox, 4-2.
“You never want to be the guy who blows it,’’ Sabathia said of the Yankees’ string of success. “I’ve been feeling pretty good, I just wasn’t able to make pitches, but to be able to make those pitches tonight, that gives me confidence to go out there in five days and try and do it again.
“It’s that time right now.’’
It sure is, and Sabathia is going to have to do it time and again.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com