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1. Let’s play a little Pitcher A and Pitcher B game here:

Pitcher A: 9-6, 4.16 ERA, 127.2 IP, 24 BBs, 117 Ks

Pitcher B: 8-6, 3.86, 128.1, 38 BBs, 95 Ks

Sorry, the tension is too much for me. Pitcher A is Randy Johnson through his first 19 starts as a Yankee in 2005 and Pitcher B is CC Sabathia through his first 19 starts this year. That is pretty darn close and by the time 19 starts were up in 2005 there already was a feeling that maybe it wasn’t a great idea to bring Johnson, a big lefty to New York. That had just as much to do with Johnson’s prickly nature as his performance.

Sabathia, another big lefty, is a far more pleasant man to be around, and scores high grades as a teammate; something that has never been particularly true about Johnson.

But the reality is that Sabathia is pitching a lot like Johnson that first year. Like Johnson in 2005, Sabathia has interspersed some excellence, but his strength has been in being a workhorse rather than a consistent dominator. The Yanks were actually 12-7 in Johnson’s first 19 starts and they are just 9-10 when Sabathia starts.

If you were giving him a grade, Sabathia would not get a third ‘C’ for his first name. But he also would not get an ‘A.’ He would, instead, get a ‘B” and — at least for me — wonder if he is going to help the Yanks get into and through October. At this moment, Sabathia has started against four first-place teams (the Red Sox, Phillies and Angels twice). In those four games, he is 0-3 (the Yanks are 0-4) with a 5.08 ERA.

2. I wrote this column in today’s Post about the Mets’ quest to hold on to relevancy and hope that injured players can come back in time to make a run to the playoffs. A key problem is that the Phillies and Giants are playing well and have opened up a gap in both the NL East and wild card, respectively. At this moment, the Mets would have to play .640 ball the rest of the way to win 90 games. Does anyone believe they are capable of that?

Let’s put this another way: To play .640 ball, the Mets will have to get something consistent going soon and what phase of their game can excel enough to help foster, say, a period in which the Mets could win 12 of 16 and really put themselves in solid position? Their starting rotation is loaded with uncertainty after Johan Santana. Francisco Rodriguez has been shaky recently and the set-up stuff in front of him is constantly worrisome. The offense just completed a 299-at-bat streak without a homer. The defense might have gone up a tick with Angel Pagan coming off the DL to play center and Jeff Francoeur in right (though I think Ryan Church is probably as good as Francoeur, despite the wide perception to the contrary). But it is still not a good defense.

So I throw out to Met fans: How does this team get on the kind of positive streak that positions them to play high-level games throughout September?

3. Yankee fans are used to rooting against the Red Sox and in the last year and a half have learned to do the same with the Rays. But they also need to add the Angels to that list. Because there is no way to play it any different now, the Yanks simply cannot handle the Angels. So if the Yanks are good enough to get to the playoffs they need to hope that the Rangers or Mariners have figured out how to get there, too.

And as you peruse the Yankee schedule I now see a Waterloo possibility in September. They have to go on a third West Coast trip of the year and from Sept. 18-20 they play three in Seattle before three in Anaheim followed by a trip home for three against the Red Sox.