Until another arm begins delivering consistently, the Yankees’ rotation will be known as “CC & The Question Marks.’’
Because Freddy Garcia (who was removed from the five-piece band yesterday) and Phil Hughes have been putrid, Ivan Nova is still learning and Hiroki Kuroda has been up and down, it’s a must that when CC Sabathia takes the ball in his meaty left hand, the Yankees win.
Yesterday at Yankee Stadium, Sabathia pitched like the leader he is and justified the truckload of millions he is paid by hurling the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Tigers in front of 43,084.
“That’s why they call him ace,’’ Andruw Jones said of Sabathia, who won his third straight by hurling eight innings for the second consecutive game and limiting the Tigers to two hits and four runs. “Today he showed it.’’
Sabathia gave up a solo homer to buddy Prince Fielder in the fourth inning and an RBI double to Miguel Cabrera in the sixth that cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-2.
Two runs in the seventh, when Alex Rodriguez plated one with a 90-foot ground out that moved him past Willie Mays into eighth place on the all-time RBI list and Robinson Cano delivered a sacrifice fly, were followed by Jones’ homer to left in the eighth.
David Robertson worked a perfect ninth and secured the Yankees’ second win in three games against the Tigers.
When Sabathia gave up 16 hits and nine earned runs in the first dozen innings of the season, he pointed to a misbehaving fastball. Yesterday, the location of his fastball wasn’t an issue.
“It’s getting better,’’ Sabathia said of his fastball command. “In the bullpen and in the games it’s getting better. I am able to command it and that makes the off-speed stuff better. When I can do that, I feel better.’’
When Sabathia is on the mound, the Yankees have to feel better than the four days in which he is not out there.
“We have to pitch a lot better than we have, all of us,’’ said Sabathia, who is 3-0 but still saddled with an obese 4.58 ERA. “We take pride in the way we pitch.’’
Even though Tigers starter Max Scherzer issued seven walks in 4 2/3 innings, he only surrendered three runs. Just one of those walks scored and the Yankees stranded 14 runners through six innings.
“We walked too many people, we are not supposed to do that,’’ Jim Leyland said of the nine free passes issued by Tigers hurlers. “Major league pitchers are not supposed to walk that many.’’
Luke Putkonen, who made his major league debut, walked Derek Jeter in the seventh, and he scored.
“Scherzer has a lot of movement on the ball and you can’t be too timid because he will give you a pitch to hit at some point in time,’’ said Curtis Granderson, who hit his eighth homer in the fourth on a 3-2 pitch.
With one game remaining in the first month of the season, the Yankees have serious rotation concerns. Kuroda goes tonight and Hughes pitches tomorrow night.
By sending Garcia to long relief and inserting neophyte David Phelps into the rotation, the Yankees showed it’s never too early to make a move. Andy Pettitte, who pitches tonight for Single-A Tampa, is lurking and could grab Hughes’ spot.
Of course, Phelps and Pettitte are no locks for success. That’s why across Sabathia’s 28 or so remaining starts, the Yankees can’t give anything away.
A gem can’t be wasted and if there is a clunker, it has to be overcome.
When you are the leader of a group of question marks, you also have to be the answer. Yesterday, Sabathia was both.
