CC Sabathia, however, is doing just about as well as humanly possible.
With the Yankees somewhat unexpectedly locked in a neck-and-neck fight with the Rays for the lead in the AL East, the ace of the staff took the hill Tuesday and did what he seems to always do. Seven innings, two runs, nine strikeouts, Yankees win.
With the Yankees splitting series against the Royals, Rangers and Red Sox, losing series against the Rays and Blue Jays and losing the series opener against the Tigers on Monday, every fifth day cannot come fast enough for New York.
"CC knows how to shut the door," Joe Girardi told reporters after Tuesday's victory.
While it sounds simple, that's what the Yankees have needed out of their $161 million man all year. In fact, when pitching following a Yankees loss, Sabathia has lost just once all season. His win on Tuesday gave him 16 on the season, the most in the American League. His 3.12 ERA isn't spectacular, but it's good enough for eighth in the league. It's also significantly lower than his 3.37 ERA in his first season in New York. Likewise, Sabathia's 143 strikeouts won't be enough to compete with Jered Weaver's 186 for the league lead.
While Sabathia hasn't been the best pitcher in the world, he's been the best pitcher on the Yankees — and that's all they need out of him. His best number may be 26, which is the number of starts he's made.
In a way, Sabathia's contributions to the 2010 Yankees have come quietly. Robinson Cano's season at the plate has been well-chronicled, and the New York offense as a whole will always overshadow pitching. Yet it's been Sabathia that has provided the Yankees with wins (they've won 69 percent of his starts) in a year that, for whatever reason, they've been hard to get.
