Not even CC Sabathia could argue with Joe Girardi this time.
Sabathia is normally visibly upset whenever Girardi comes to get him during an inning, but the lefty didn’t put up a fight even though there was just one out in the fifth inning Monday night and the Yankees held a four-run lead.
Sabathia had thrown 88 pitches when Girardi pulled him after a one-out single by Trevor Plouffe sent up Evan Longoria, who has beaten up Sabathia over the years.
Girardi’s move worked, as David Robertson came on to strike out Longoria and then Lucas Duda to end the fifth and the Yankees ended up winning, 5-1 at Citi Field in a game moved from St. Petersburg, Fla. because of Hurricane Irma.
“It’s [Longoria],” Sabathia said. “He’s hitting like .900 off me, so I understand it. We got the win. That’s all that matters. [The bullpen] is the strength of our team. We have confidence in all of them out there.”
Sabathia was exaggerating Longoria’s success against him — but only slightly. The third baseman entered Monday hitting .421 (32-for-76) against Sabathia, with nine doubles, eight homers and 15 walks.
Sabathia had already retired Longoria twice Monday on groundouts and Girardi didn’t want to take any chances.
“I feel that was the game and I went to him,” Girardi said of going to Robertson so early. “When you look at Longoria’s numbers against CC, he got him out twice and I didn’t feel like pressing my luck.”
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash called the strategy “brilliant.”
“When you have the relievers and you have a certain style of pitcher, why not do it?” Cash said of the quick hook. “It’s an advantage. It’s proven over baseball that different looks challenge opposing lineups. Robertson, [Dellin] Betances and [Aroldis] Chapman are gonna challenge [you] whenever they’re pitching, but the buy-in to get that done has been pretty impressive.”
Sabathia gave up six hits and walked two.
“He was not sharp,” Girardi said. “He worked so hard and had to battle all night. … Longoria’s been a guy who has probably hurt him as much as anyone in the game.”
Sabathia, who traveled from Baltimore to New York to visit team physician Chris Ahmad following his previous start to have his surgically repaired right knee drained, said he was fine physically.
In that outing against the Orioles, Girardi let Sabathia start the sixth and it backfired, as Sabathia surrendered a two-run shot to Mark Trumbo that contributed to a comeback win for Baltimore.
Against the Rays, Sabathia allowed a two-out triple to Adeiny Hechavarria that scored Duda from first to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second.
After that, though, Sabathia pitched around a pair of singles in both the third and fourth innings as the Yankees used a five-run top of the fourth to take the lead for good.
