Sabathia, Yanks aim to seal division title vs. Angels
This season, CC Sabathia has experienced notable moments like getting his 250th career win and his 3,000th strikeout in the final chapter of his 19-year career.
On Wednesday, when the New York Yankees continue a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels, Sabathia will experience another notable moment: taking the mound for the final time in the regular season at Yankee Stadium.
Sabathia will try to pitch the Yankees to two team milestones.
The Yankees (99-53) need just one win or one loss by the Tampa Bay Rays to clinch their first AL East title since 2012, and their next victory will give them 100 for the second straight season.
New York opened the series with an 8-0 victory Tuesday when Gleyber Torres hit his team-leading 38th homer in the fourth inning.
Sabathia (5-8, 4.95 ERA) signed with the Yankees following the 2008 season, when they moved into the current stadium. He threw the first regular-season pitch there April 16, 2009, against Cleveland, and is the all-time leader in wins (66), starts (146), innings (922 2/3) and strikeouts (856) at the venue.
"There's been so many cool moments this year with CC, 3,000, 250," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday afternoon. "Pitching in places like Cleveland for the last time, all the things he's done with the Boys and Girls Clubs on every road trip. So, there's been a lot of those cool moments, and obviously pitching here at Yankee Stadium, his last home start, I'm sure will be exciting.
"He's handled everything, every step of the way with kind of just the grace and the next game, just another game. He's really good at just focusing on it. I'm sure that people at this ballpark and his teammates will appreciate it a little bit tomorrow, but I wouldn't expect CC to make that big a deal out of it."
The 39-year-old left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 10 home starts this season. Sabathia is making his second start since returning from a fourth injured-list stint and third due to knee problems. He last pitched the second game of Thursday's doubleheader in Detroit, when he allowed two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Sabathia is 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA in eight starts since getting his 251st career win on June 24 at Toronto. It's possible he might pitch long enough to qualify for a win if the Yankees decide to use Domingo German as they did for four innings last week.
Sabathia is 10-9 with a 3.89 ERA in 23 career starts against Los Angeles.
The Angels (68-83) are 5-18 in their past 23 road games and are coming off their 10th shutout loss. They struck out 13 times and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Tuesday, continuing a trying season under first-year manager Brad Ausmus, who has been forced to deal with the death of Tyler Skaggs in July and season-ending injuries to Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani.
"The number of injuries, the loss of Tyler, I can't remember a season that compares to it," Ausmus said before Tuesday's game.
Dillon Peters (3-3, 4.83 ERA) will make his 10th start of the season and first career start against the Yankees. Peters is 2/3 with a 5.19 ERA as a starter this season. He last pitched Sept. 11 against the Indians, when he allowed four runs on five hits in three-plus innings.
--Field Level Media
