Still Waiting To See The Real CC

Sometimes, the offense just isn't going to hit.

And when that happens, the ace should be able to pick up the slack, especially against a 30-year-old rookie.

CC Sabathia couldn't escape a second-and-third, one-out jam in the seventh in what had been a pitchers' duel and the Angels went on to score four in the inning on their way to an 8-4 victory over the Yankees Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The Yankee's four-game winning streak came to an end.

You had to suspect that with Nick Swisher out after being hit on the elbow with a pitch Friday, Jorge Posada getting the day game off after the night game and Mark Teixeira still struggling that the lineup would not be as potent as during its winning streak. With Jose Molina, Ramiro Pena and Brett Gardner filling out he bottom third, the lineup wasn't exactly Murderers' Row.

Still with someone named Matt Palmer on the mound for the Angels, you'd figure the Yanks would be able to get a few runs.

And for a very short while, it appeared the offense would beat up the journeyman. Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch, and after Johnny Damon popped out, Jeter stole second and Teixeira walked. Hideki Matsui followed with an RBI single to put runners on first and third and the Yankees were in business.

But Robinson Cano, whose 18-game hitting streak came to an end, hit a check-swing topper, Melky Cabrera grounded out and the threat was over. The Yankees wouldn't mount another rally again until the seventh.

And that's where the Yankees needed Sabathia to bail them out. The Yankees gave Sabathia $161 million over seven years to be the ace, the horse. And through six innings he was that guy, hurt by a Jeter error in the sixth for the tying run.

But in the seventh, he needed to make a big pitch and couldn't.

Eighth-place hitter Brandon Wood led off with a single and Macier Izturis followed with another. Chone Figgins sacrificed to put runners on second and third and Sabathia was under the gun. He struck out Gary Matthews Jr., but got unlucky when Howie Kendrick beat out an infield single to plate Wood.

Sabathia's job then became to limit the damage and keep the Yankees in the game -- especially against the Angels' awful bullpen. He couldn't. After getting ahead of Torii Hunter 0-and-2, Sabathia's slider got too much of the plate and Hunter drilled it for a two-run double. Jonathan Albaladejo replaced Sabathia and gave up a single to Mike Napoli and the Yankees were in a big hole they couldn't escape with their bullpen continuing to leak runs in the eighth and ninth.

Six strong innings would be great from Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes right now, but not from Sabathia. He's supposed to be the stopper and the guy the rest of the rotation feeds off of. The good news is Sabathia knows that and isn't making excuses.

"I’ve got to do a better job of keeping us in the game. I got two strikes and
two outs and I just didn’t make a pitch," he said. "I’m throwing the ball
better than the first two or three starts. I’m throwing the ball better than I
did at this time last year."

Indeed Sabathia is throwing the ball better. Through his first seven starts last season, including his first start in May -- a 4-2 loss to the Royals on May 4 -- Sabathia was 1-5 with a 7.51 ERA. This season he is 1-3 with a 4.85 ERA, but New York fans, especially Yankees fans, are not known as the most patient lot. We demand and expect more, especially from big-money aces.

Remember, Mets fans were starting to grumble last season when Johan Santana, another slow April starter, went only 6-3 with a 3.41 ERA through his first 11 starts into mid-May. Of course Santana dominated the second half.

The hope is Sabathia will do the same thing, just like he did last year. While Sabathia has taken losses in his last two starts this year, they have marked improvements over his previous starts. And if history is any indication, Sabathia is ready to take off.

While Dave loves to beat Yankees fans over the head with his belief that Sabathia, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, can no longer pitch in the AL, the facts are that after that May 4 start last season, he went 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 starts leading up to his trade to the Brewers. He had two shutouts, had another outing in which he pitched eight shutout innings and pitched fewer than seven innings just once.

Sabathia is still the ace the Yankees have been desperate to acquire, but he must start pitching like it and do so much sooner, than later.

Some More Bad
The offense had its chances to get back into this game, but couldn't get the big hits until it was too late. They Yankees had first and second with one out and loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but couldn't answer the Angels' rally. They did score three in the ninth to cut a seven-run deficit to four, but it was just too little, too late.

What We Learned
Besides Phil Coke, the injured Brian Bruney and Mariano Rivera, is there any reason to trust any of the Yankees' other relievers? Albaladejo, Jose Veras and David Robertson were dreadful yet again.

Runners In Scoring Position
Saturday
2-for-11 (.182)
Season
62-for-236 (.263)

Up Next
Sunday vs. Angels, 1:05 p.m., YES
Joe Saunders (3-1, 3.41) vs. Hughes (1-0, 0.00)

Hughes came up big in first start and will have to pitch well again against Saunders, a tough lefty. Posada, who homered in the ninth Saturday, should be back in the lineup and it's possible Swisher will return, too.