C.C. Sabathia has had an up-and-down 2016. Sometimes he’ll throw six or seven solid innings, other times he’ll give up five runs and not finish the third. On Tuesday, Yankees fans who managed to stay awake got vintage C.C. Sabathia.
The former Cy Young Award winner tossed seven great innings against the Mariners, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out seven. Sabathia’s only run came on a single in the third inning when the Yankees inexplicably brought the infield in early in the game. Even though the runner from third likely would have scored had the infield been at regular depth, Didi Gregorius would have had a decent chance to get the runner out at first with his range.
New York scored in bursts and with Sabathia’s dominance, the game went along at a relatively brisk pace.
THE PLAY: ELLSBURY BURIES ONE (+.186 WPA)
With the game tied at one in the fifth inning and Sabathia dealing, former 30+ home run hitter Jacoby Ellsbury launched a bomb to right-center field to give his pitcher the lead. New York would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the night. Ellsbury had been struggling coming into the game, hitting 7-for-41 over his last ten contests, but the blast was the difference maker for the Yankees to move three games over .500.
TOP PERFORMERS
Yankees — Ronald Torreyes: 3-for-4, 2 2Bs, 1 R, 1 RBI
Mariners — Robinson Cano: 2-for-4
NOTES
— Gary Sanchez was remarkably quiet (at least relatively) in Tuesday night’s game, notching only a single and walk against Seattle. Sanchez had hit seven home runs in his last eight games, but despite Safeco Field’s smaller outfield he did not come home Tuesday. He’s slashing .377/.427/.797 in his short time up this season.
— With Anthony Swarzak on the disabled list, Joe Girardi brought in Tommy Layne during the eighth inning while the Yankees were still within a save situation. Swarzak had bafflingly been trusted in a lot of close games after the departures of Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, but Layne stepped up as a nice bridge needing only eight pitches to retire the side. The Yankees scored in the ninth though to increase their lead to four.
— Despite the four-run lead, Dellin Betances came in in the ninth to close out the game. Though he was not eligible for a save situation, Betances still threw a scoreless ninth, giving up one hit while striking out two.
THE HIGHLIGHT: MORE LIKE TOR-RUN-YES
Aside from Ellsbury’s home run, Ronald Torreyes was the biggest source of offense on the night. In the second inning, the infielder ripped an RBI double off opposing starter Taijuan Walker to put New York on the board with a 1-0. Torreyes in on a scorching hot mini-streak, knocking eight basehits in his last 12 at bats with four doubles and a home run.
UP NEXT
The Yankees play the rubber game of their series against Seattle at a much earlier 3:40 p.m. start. Masahiro Tanaka (10-4, 3.24 ERA) will take on Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8, 3.78 ERA) in the finale.
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