BALTIMORE — Had CC Sabathia faced anybody else besides the pitiful Orioles last night the big lefty might have paid a big price for three pedestrian innings at the outset.
Yet, Sabathia’s favorite team was on the schedule, and thanks to the Orioles’ inability to catch and throw the baseball, Sabathia had enough time to better himself and help the Yankees win 4-2 in front of 16,451 at a soggy Camden Yards.
“It’s important to fight through it when you don’t have your best stuff,” manager Joe Girardi said of Sabathia’s seven-inning effort in which he allowed two runs, nine hits, walked three and fanned eight. “He found a way to get it done.”
Having the Orioles in the batter’s box helped. Sabathia is 6-3 overall and 4-0 this year against the worst team in baseball. For his career, he is 13-1. Sabathia’s last four wins have come against the Birds.
“Weird,” Sabathia said. “I don’t know what to say. Facing them back to back is tough.”
Nevertheless, no pitcher would complain to see the O’s regularly. Sabathia’s last start was June 3 when he beat them by allowing three runs in seven frames.
It doesn’t figure to be much better tonight when touted prospect Jake Arrieta makes his major league debut against A.J. Burnett.
Sabathia received help from several areas.
The O’s committed an error that led to an unearned run and threw a way a double play ball in the sixth when the Yankees scored twice to erase a 2-1 deficit.
Then in the seventh and eighth Robinson Cano saved a run by stopping Nick Markakis’s ground single before it went into right field with Cesar Izturis on second.
Finally, left fielder Kevin Russo made a diving catch toward the line to snag Adam Jones’ leadoff liner in the eighth against Joba Chamberlain. The play looked larger when Matt Wieters followed with a double.
“That was a big catch, that changed the game,” Girardi said.
After Cano, who went 3-for-4 and raised his average to .376, saved a run, Sabathia walked the right-handed hitting Ty Wigginton to face the left-handed hitting Luke Scott with the bases loaded and the Yankees leading by a run.
“I knew I had Scott coming up, I didn’t want to give Wigginton a pitch to hit,” Sabathia said.
Scott, who was 2-for-10 against Sabathia, looked overmatched and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking pitch to strand three.
As for the Yankees’ lineup, it struggled with Sabathia in the early frames. Cano and Jorge Posada opened the second with a single and walk, respectively, against Chris Tillman but the next three hitters were retired.
Tillman’s throwing error trying to pick off Cano at first led to an unearned run in the fourth when Granderson’s sacrifice fly scored Cano.
Three straight singles by Mark Teixeira (2-for-5), Alex Rodriguez (2-for-5) and Cano produced a run in the sixth, but the O’s failed to turn a double play when Izturis’ return throw to first sailed wide of Wigginton.
Francisco Cervelli added a two-out, RBI single in the eighth for a 4-2 lead.
Chamberlain worked a scoreless eighth and Mariano Rivera a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.
The Yankees’ 10th straight victory over the Orioles enabled the Yankees to remain two games back of the AL East-leading Rays.
Girardi danced around his team dominating the Orioles.
“I don’t know, you talk about winning series and that’s what you concentrate on,” said Girardi, whose club has won two of the first three.
It helps when the worst team in baseball is the other half of that series.