Sabathia matches career high with win No. 19 as Yankees win 5-0
New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia showed why he is considered to be one of the best in the game Thursday afternoon pitching eight innings and only allowing one hit to lead the Yankees to a 5-0 win over the Oakland Athletics.
Sabathia was easily in charge of the game throughout the eight innings he pitched. The only hit came in the second inning when Mark Ellis hit a single into right field. Otherwise the only other runners came courtesy of Sabathia who walked three and hit one.
The only scoring threat the Athletics posed came in the eighth inning after Sabathia hit Jeff Larish and then walked Landon Powell to give the A’s runners at first and second. Sabathia rebounded by retiring the next two batters; Landon Powell was thrown out at second base after Rajai Davis hit a ground ball into play
The win is No. 19 on the season for Sabathia making him the first pitcher in the league to reach 19 wins this season, a total which also matches his single season career high. He will get the chance for No. 20 next week against Baltimore at home; Sabathia has not lost at home in New York since the All-Star break in 2009.
For the Yankees the scoring came primarily in the form of home runs. Jorge Posada got one of only two hits that Athletics starter Dallas Braden gave up, a home run over the left-center field wall to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Curtis Granderson hit a pair of home runs, one in the sixth inning to increase the lead to 2-0 and another in the seventh to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Granderson did not start the game, but came in for Nick Swisher who had to leave after the first inning with stiffness in his left knee.
With the win the Yankees improved to a Major League best 84-50 on the season and swept the Athletics in the four game series. The Yankees won the season series between the two teams 9-1.
New York has a one and a half-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East division and will look to hold on to it when they start a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. Rookie Ivan Nova is expected to take the mound for the Yankees with Brandon Morrow set to start for the Blue Jays.
The Yankees lost four of six games with the Blue Jays during the month of August.
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