Sabathia buries slump with consecutive solid starts
CC Sabathia picked the perfect time of year to get hot, pitching well for the second consecutive start Wednesday in the New York Yankees' 8-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Sabathia held Minnesota to two runs on six hits and one walk, striking out 10 batters in eight innings to earn his first win since Aug. 24. He improved to 10-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his last 11 regular-season and postseason starts against the Twins.
"I think just having fastball command is where it starts, and me being able to spot it, it makes a big difference," Sabathia said after improving to 14-6 this season. "I got some strikeouts with them looking at fastballs, so being able to command that definitely helps."
Sabathia was 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA in four starts between Aug. 29 and Sept. 14, but he's registered two superb performances in his last two outings, allowing two runs over 16 innings. Sabathia has walked three and struck out 21 in that span.
"I've never been a guy that didn't believe in CC," manager Joe Girardi said. "He just wasn't able to get on that roll that we've seen, he had a couple DL stints that interrupted his season.
"He had some good months before he went on the DL the first time, and we saw some good starts after he came off the DL the first time, but it's nice to see him put a couple back-to-back."
