CC Puts Oakland Struggles Behind Him

(REUTERS/Robert Galbraith)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	0	1	1	0	0	5	0	0	0		7	12	0
OAK	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	4

WP - CC Sabathia (14-7)
LP - Jay Marshall (0-1)

So much for CC Sabathia's trouble pitching in Oakland. Tonight he put all that behind him with his third gem in a row. In eight innings, the big lefty allowed two runs on five hits, walked one, and struck out seven. He needed just 94 pitches to get through eight, 66 of which found the strike zone. The win was CC's 14th of the season, tying him for the MLB lead with Boston's Josh Beckett and St Louis' Adam Wainwright.

He made just two mistakes on the night, a solo homer off the bat of Kurt Suzuki in the first, then another solo shot by Tommy Everidge in the second. He did get into a little trouble in the fourth when the A's put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out, and then loaded the bases with two out. But he got out of that jam and coasted from there.

Besides pitching a great ballgame, CC did something else that most guys in that dugout won't soon forget. After Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch in the first inning, CC threw behind Suzuki. When A-Rod saw this he started smiling at third base, obviously happy his pitcher stood up for him. Suzuki would homer on the next pitch, but the point was made; if you throw at one of our guys I'm going to throw at one of yours.

The Yankees offense looked terrible again over the first five innings. Scoring two gift runs; the first coming on an Adam Kennedy error in the second on a ground ball hit by Derek Jeter, and the second run coming in the third thanks to Scott Hairston's misplay in right. The play was ruled a ground-rule double for Jorge Posada but a good left fielder could have come up with that ball.

They loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but that rally died when Mark Teixeira grounded into an inning-ending double play. Missed opportunities were piling up for the Yankees and they were in dire need of a big inning. That inning came in the sixth.

Oakland took out starter Vin Mazzaro, went to their bullpen, and the Yanks took off. Left-hander Jeff Marshall was first out of the A's pen. He got Robinson Cano to ground out to leadoff the inning, but that was the only out he recorded. Nick Swisher doubled and advanced to third on a Wild pitch. Melky Cabrera was then hit by a pitch to put men on 1st and 3rd with one out. Jeter then gave the Yanks a 3-2 lead with an RBI single. Johnny Damon then knocked Marshall out of the game with a bloop RBI double.

Jeter had his third straight three-hit game tonight, and on the current road trip is a ridiculous 14-for-25. His current hot streak has upped his batting average for the season to .330.

Santiago Casilla then came into the game. He intentionally walked Teixeira to load the bases, then walked in a run when A-Rod drew a four-pitch walk. Hideki Matsui then drove in the Yanks sixth run with a single, and then POsada made it seven with a sac-fly.

He threw eight straight balls to start his night, but David Robertson was able to finish off the game without allowing a run.

Boston won tonight up in Toronto so the Yankees lead remains at 7 games.

The Yanks look to take the series in tomorrow's rubber game. Chad Gaudin will make his first start as a Yankee. He will be facing Oakland left-hander Brett Anderson.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	1	3	1	0	0	0	.330
Damon, LF	4	1	2	1	1	0	3	.283
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	0	0	1	1	6	.283
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	1	1	1	2	1	0	.257
Matsui, H, DH	4	0	2	1	1	0	2	.269
1-Hinske, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Posada, C	4	0	1	2	0	1	5	.273
Cano, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.315
Swisher, RF	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	.242
Cabrera, Me, CF	4	2	2	0	0	0	1	.268
Totals	37	7	12	6	5	5	20
1-Ran for Matsui, H in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Cabrera, Me (20, Mazzaro), Posada (20, Mazzaro), Swisher (23, Marshall), Damon (29, Marshall). TB: Jeter 3; Damon 3; Rodriguez, A; Matsui, H 2; Posada 2; Swisher 2; Cabrera, Me 3. RBI: Posada 2 (55), Jeter (54), Damon (68), Rodriguez, A (64), Matsui, H (59). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 2; Teixeira; Cano. SF: Posada. GIDP: Teixeira; Posada; Damon. Team RISP: 4-for-12. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (9, 2nd base off Mazzaro/Suzuki, K).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sabathia (W, 14-7)	8.0	5	2	2	1	7	2	3.58
Robertson, D	1.0	0	0	0	2	2	0	3.06

Pitches-strikes: Sabathia 94-66, Robertson, D 23-11.

ATHLETICS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia

HONORABLE MENTION: Derek Jeter (3-for-5, RBI, R)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees @ Athletics
Game Time: 10:05 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0, 5.13) vs. LHP Brett Anderson (7-8, 4.55)