BALTIMORE — CC Sabathia was clearly bothered for much of his outing by what he considered to be an inconsistent strike zone by home-plate umpire John Tumpane.
After Sabathia took the loss in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader at Camden Yards, the lefty admitted it impacted his pitching.
“I’ve been playing this game long enough to be able to clear my mind and make good pitches and [not] let what he’s calling affect my game, and today I did,’’ Sabathia said after the 5-4 defeat. “It’s just a tough thing, throwing strikes and not getting the calls.”
He ended up giving up a game-altering three-run homer to Danny Valencia in the sixth.
Asked how his problems with Tumpane altered the way he pitched, Sabathia said: “Being pissed off, not being able to make pitches. I’m usually a little better than that, [at] being able to clear my mind and go out and make pitches, whatever the situation is.”
He was also ejected by home-plate umpire Lance Barrett on Saturday in Toronto after he said something when Kyle Higashioka was called out on strikes.
Whatever issues Sabathia had with Tumpane didn’t surface until the fourth, as Sabathia retired the first eight batters he faced. Manny Machado doubled to left for the Orioles’ first hit in the fourth, eluding a diving Clint Frazier. Mark Trumbo followed with a two-run shot to left to cut into the Yankees’ 3-0 lead.
He pitched around two walks and a single later in the inning, leaving the bases loaded in a 31-pitch frame.
Sabathia made an uncharacteristically nifty play to help turn two in the fifth and Aaron Boone sent him out for the sixth, despite his having thrown 85 pitches.
The move backfired, as Sabathia walked Trumbo then allowed a double to Jonathan Schoop on a hard-hit ball that got by Neil Walker at first.
Valencia, mired in an 0-for-25 slump, hammered a three-run homer to put the Orioles ahead.
“It was just a pitch he knew was coming,’’ Sabathia said. “I probably should have gone a different way right there, especially after he swung at the first one. It was a mistake on my part. Both of those guys [Schoop and Valencia] are guys I get out most of time. That’s frustrating.”
Sabathia was replaced by Jonathan Holder, and Boone didn’t regret his decision to keep Sabathia in the game.
“We checked on him and felt like he was good to go and had more to offer,’’ said Boone, who added the doubleheader didn’t factor into the decision. “The home run obviously changes thing a lot.”
And the loss continued Sabathia’s surprising struggles against hapless Baltimore. He’s now winless in his past nine starts versus the Orioles, dating back to June 5, 2016. In his last four outings against Baltimore, he’s allowed 20 runs in 20 innings.
“They have right-handed hitters with some power,’’ Boone said of Baltimore.
And they took advantage of it Monday.
