It starts with me.
Those were the bold words of Yankee ace C.C. Sabathia Friday morning as he discussed the Yankees current plight, engulfed in a three-way death match for the AL East crown with the Orioles and Rays.
“I need to pitch better,” he said while handing out free backpacks at P.S. 106 Parkchester School in The Bronx. “It starts with me, giving us a chance to win.”
Sabathia hasn’t pitched poorly since coming off the 15-day disabled list Aug. 24, going 1-1 in three starts while allowing no more than three earned runs and going at least seven innings in each outing. The hefty southpaw, who starts Saturday night in Baltimore, hasn’t been pleased with his performance.
“You need to give up less runs than the other team to win the game and I haven’t been doing that,” Sabathia said. “I gave up the lead up a few times. Hopefully, I can go out tomorrow night and pitch well and get us a win. … Tomorrow is another start and I need to go out and pitch the way I need to.”
Sabathia said the Yankees remain confident they will win the division despite blowing a 10-game lead over the last seven weeks and now finding themselves tied atop the division with the hard-charing Orioles and just two games ahead of the dogged Rays.
“We know what we have to do to win this division and it’s up to us,” he said. “It’s a tough race, it’s going to be close, but we play everybody we’re close with or tied with. It’s really up to us to go out and make this happen. You’re always confident, especially with the history of our organization and the guys we have in the room. We know what’s at stake and it’s up to us to go out and play well.”
Sabathia was taking a brief break Friday morning from the heated pennant race to bring joy and aid to 1,300 kids at P.S. 106 Parkchester School. Each student received a free backpack full of school supplies courtesy of Sabathia’s PitCCh In Foundation as the foundation went over 10,000 back packs being given out since it began in 2009. The supplies, such as notebooks and markers, were exactly what Sabathia’s kids purchased for the new school year.
The foundation came to P.S. 106 last year, but Sabathia wasn’t able to make it, talking to students via video instead. When he was introduced on Friday, the entire auditorium went wild with applause and shrieks of joy.
“The impact is tremendous,” P.S. 106 principal Eugenia Montalvo said. “It’s special, unique. I feel like I won the lottery. My whole staff here is Yankee fans.”
Joined by his wife Amber and mother, Margie Sabathia-Lanier, Sabathia spoke of the importance of excelling in school, responsibility and personally handed out each backpack along with a hug, high-five or handshake to the student receiving it and posed for pictures.
“When people can actually show up and give their time, instead of just putting a name on it, I think it means a lot more,” said Sabathia, who grew up in Vallejo, Calif, an inner-city like many of the kids he spoke with on Friday. “It’s really important for me. I wasn’t able to make it last year. This year I had a chance to be here and I didn’t think twice about it.”
When Sabathia was younger, former Oakland A’s star pitcher Dave Stewart paid a visit to his local Boys & Girls club. That stuck with him and served as inspiration.
“That made all the difference to me,” he said. “It’s exciting to be here.”
Sabathia hopes to make that kind of impact the rest of the way for the Yankees.
zbraziller@nypost.com