It used to take, after some deliberation, a few minutes to find the last effective start that CC Sabathia made. Now, you have to go back months to find his last bad outing,
Like he’s been in his past seven starts, Sabathia was on point during his start on Thursday, leading the Yankees to a 4-1 win with six innings of one-run, six-hit ball with seven strikeouts. He actually improved upon the seven scoreless innings he threw on June 10, increasing his strikeout total, and recording just three outs via the flyball as opposed to 13. He didn’t have his best stuff, sure, but once again he gave the Yankees a chance to win. He’s been a revelation,
The offense was powered almost exclusively by Didi Gregorius, who slugged a three-run homer in the seventh to give the Yankees the lead for good, after Jacoby Ellsbury tied it up with an RBI single.
The Play: Didi goes Deedeep to right (+.240 WPA)
What’s gotten into Didi Gregorius? He’s now hit six dingers this season. This was a first-pitch heater, which Gregorius did a great job hunting.
The hitters behind him in this inning deserve a lot of credit, too. A-Rod began the frame with an infield single, Brian McCann worked a walk, and Starlin Castro laid down a successful bunt to move the runners into scoring position. Before Gregorius even dug in, the Yankees were in position to win this one, with one out, a runner on third, and Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman ready to enter.
Notes
— Another outing for each member of No-Runs DMC. Betances came on to keep the game 1-1, Miller held the 4-1 lead, and Chapman saved the game. The amount of times all three are being deployed is starting to creep up there.
— Sabathia was actually hit on the foot by a sharply-hit ball in the fourth, but stayed in the game.
— The Twins stranded 10 runners, and the Yankees stranded just two.
The Highlight: Ike Davis has his Yankee moment
OK — not quite his Yankee moment — but this probably kept this game from spiraling out of control. This was huge.
Up Next
Game two of the four-game set. The Yankees look to improve to 15-20 on the road, and send Masahiro Tanaka to the hill against rookie Pat Dean.
Photo: Jesse Johnson / USATSI