Sabathia rocked as Rays take series finale

Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees are going to have to wait a little longer for that first three-game sweep at Tropicana Field since September 2005. At least they won the series, I guess, their first at the Trop since April 2010. Let’s recap this mess…

• Rocked Again: CC Sabathia’s last three starts have gotten progressively worse, and on Sunday he delivered a nightmare seven-run, seven-inning outing that makes you wonder just what the hell is going on in that left arm. He gave up two-run homers to noted power threats Sean Rodriguez and James Loney even though his fastball topped out at 94.2 mph according to PitchFX, a season-high by nearly two miles an hour. The gun has seemed hot all weekend though — same as it was during the previous series at Tropicana Field — so I’m not sure if I believe that. Either way, Sabathia is a problem right now. He showed some serious frustration on the field for the first time in basically forever, so you know this is wearing on him too.
• Corn Cobb: Don’t be fooled by the six hits and three runs, the Yankees put up little fight against Alex Cobb. It wasn’t until Robinson Cano led off the seventh with a single that they recorded their first legitimate hit — their first was a blown call by the first base ump (surprise!) — and it wasn’t until the eighth that they had a man reach second base. That required an ill-timed dive by Desmond Jennings. Brett Gardner hit a solo homer in the ninth, but by then it was too little, too late. Cobb just dominates the Yankees. One of these years they’ll get around to figuring him out.
• Leftovers: Lefty David Huff pitched exactly like you would expect someone just claimed off waivers to pitch (one run on a hit and two walks in one inning), and I’m sure he’ll be back on waivers within ten days or so … Vernon Wells went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is mired in a 6-for-41 (.146) slump … Gardner and Cano went 3-for-8, everyone else 3-for-25 … David Adams is responsible for the team’s only offensive highlight, a two-run double off lefty Cesar Ramos in the ninth. Like Gardner’s dinger, it didn’t really matter.

MLB.com is the place to go for the box score and video highlights while FanGraphs brings some more stats. ESPN has the updating standings, which show the Yankees up one and four games over the Red Sox and Orioles in the loss column, respectively. The Bombers head home to New York for four games against the Mets now, starting Monday with Phil Hughes against Jon Niese at CitiField. Check out RAB Tickets for tickets to any of the four upcoming Subway Series game.