HOUSTON — So many unknowns come attached to a Game 7. So the Yankees will clasp onto one known:
CC Sabathia will embrace this American League Championship Series challenge.
The Yankees failed to punch their ticket to the World Series on Friday night, falling to the Astros and Justin Verlander, 7-1, in ALCS Game 6 at Minute Maid Park to knot this matchup at three games apiece. They’ll turn to Sabathia, their beloved veteran, to lead their do-or-die efforts against Houston and Charlie Morton.
“You never take these opportunities for [granted],” Sabathia said following Game 6. “That’s why it’s special to pitch and play in October. It’s been a tough road, not being in the playoffs for a long time, and going through my personal things. It will feel good to get out there [Saturday] and have an opportunity to try to pitch this team to the World Series.
“We’ll come out tomorrow and play a great game and win tomorrow.”
The Yankees missed the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2016, and their 2015 run lasted one game, a wild-card loss to the Astros. Sabathia missed that because he had checked himself into an alcohol rehabilitation facility the previous day.
In this postseason so far, the big lefty has performed like a man thrilled to get an opportunity he thought might never come again. In three starts, the 37-year-old has a 2.30 ERA over 15 ²/₃ innings. He defeated Morton and the Astros in ALCS Game 3, tossing six shutout innings.
“We’ve seen it so many times. And we’re going to need him to come up big tomorrow,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s done it a couple of different times in the playoffs, during the course of the season, and something that I think he loves to do is pitch in these type of situations. And we need him to come up big.”
Said Astros manager A.J. Hinch of Sabathia: “We’ve got to make an adjustment on his style of pitching and see how he’s going to pitch. He’s got a really good fastball. He entices you up. He’s got a slider. He’s not going to be scared off in the moment. He’s been in the league forever. He’s going to come out with some pretty intense emotions.
“Trying the cat-and-mouse game that comes with CC, can you lay off the breaking ball that’s a ball? Can you hunt the fastball as he moves it around the zone? I have no doubt he’s going to come at us with his best.”
No one does, really.
“[I’ll] just try to come out, pound the strike zone, be aggressive, and hopefully get some swings early in the count that allow me to pitch deep into the game, I guess,” Sabathia said.
The Yankees’ fate depends greatly on whether Sabathia can honor that guess.
— Dan Martin contributed to this report