kept a no-hit bid going for 7 2-3 innings Saturday, losing the closest
call of his career on a sharp single by former batterymate Kelly
Shoppach in the New York Yankees' 10-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
With a large contingent of Yankee
fans among the Tropicana Field crowd of 29,892 chanting "Let's go, CC!"
Shoppach's hit on a 1-0 pitch off the big lefty fell cleanly in front
of left fielder Brett Gardner.
There was no visible reaction from
the exhausted Yankees ace, who sat in the dugout for 17 minutes while
New York scored four runs in the top of the eighth.
Manager Joe Girardi immediately
bounced out of the dugout to remove Sabathia, who walked two and struck
out five. The left-hander threw 69 of his 111 pitches for strikes and
benefited from spectacular defensive plays by Mark Teixeira, Alex
Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.
David Robertson finished the game to complete a combined two-hitter. Ben Zobrist doubled off
the reliever with two outs in the ninth.
Sabathia also took a no-hitter into
the eighth inning for Cleveland on April 7, 2002, at Detroit, with
Randall Simon breaking up that bid with a leadoff single. The
left-hander pitched a one-hitter for Milwaukee at Pittsburgh on Aug.
31, 2008 — the only hit coming on Andy LaRoche's check-swing dribbler
back to the pitcher in the fifth inning.
Cano hit a two-run homer off Wade
Davis (0-1) in the fourth inning, and the Yankees scored two more in
the fifth on Derek Jeter's run-scoring single and Teixeira's RBI
double, which snapped an 0-for-17 skid, the longest hitless streak to
begin a season in the slugger's career.
Teixeira also stretched out to make a
diving catch on Jason Bartlett's low liner to keep the no-hit bid alive
in the sixth. It was A-Rod's turn to shine in the seventh, scrambling
to his feet after making a diving stop on B.J. Upton's hard grounder
past third base and making the long throw to Teixeira at first.
Sabathia walked Evan Longoria leading
off the fifth and Carl Crawford starting the seventh, both on 3-2
pitches. Longoria eventually was stranded at third base, and the Rays
left another runner in scoring position when Zobrist stole second after
reaching on a fielder's choice in the seventh.
Sabathia made a nice play on a
comebacker from Crawford in the fourth, then slowed down Willy Aybar's
high bouncer with his pitching hand in the eighth, deflecting the ball
toward second baseman Cano, who easily threw the runner out.
Sabathia and Shoppach are not
strangers. They played together for three years in Cleveland, and
Shoppach caught all or part Sabathia's final four starts with the
Indians before the big lefty was traded in July 2008.
Shoppach began the day with a career
.241 batting average in six seasons. His hitting highlight came four
weeks after Sabathia was traded — Shoppach tied a major league record
by getting five extra-base hits in a game.
Sabathia rebounded from allowing
five runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings of the Yankees' opening day
loss at Boston. He was not involved in the decision, but has a history
of struggling in April.
He's just 13-12 in the opening month
of the season during his career, including 3-6 over March and April of
the past three seasons.
Davis was one of three rookies, along with Jeff Niemann and David Price, who finished last season in Tampa Bay's rotation.
The 24-year-old right-hander walked
Teixeira ahead of Cano's second homer of the season. Jeter's RBI single
made it 3-0 and Teixeira gave Sabathia a four-run lead when his double
down the right field line drove in Jeter from first base.
Davis allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Notes
With Sabathia on the mound,
Rays manager Joe Maddon chose to rest slugger Carlos Pena, who homered
during Friday night's win. Pena has hit 15 home runs against the
Yankees over the past four seasons — five more than any other player.
But he's 4-for-29 with two homers and 14 strikeouts lifetime against
Sabathia. … Yankees fifth starter Phil Hughes pitched six innings in
an extended spring training intrasquad game in Tampa. … Niemann felt
fine after playing catch and a decision on whether he'll make his next
scheduled start will be made after he throws on the side Sunday. He
left his first start of the season against Baltimore after being hit in
the right shoulder by a line drive. … Yankees C Jorge Posada had the
day off, replaced by Francisco Cervelli.