NEW YORK _ The way that CC Sabathia can command a big moment, the way he calmly catches the ball with his throwing hand, the way he confidently stands on the mound, surely must be daunting for opposing batters. Yet none of that is his greatest contribution to the Yankees.
What he does best is not how much he frustrates the other side but how he reassures his own team. He does it all the time when he pitches after a Yankees loss. He did it again Monday night in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
By retiring George Springer with his first pitch, by striking out the irrepressible Jose Altuve to end an amazingly brisk first inning, Sabathia effectively told the rest of the Yankees, "It's OK. Relax. I've got this."
He allowed them to exhale and helped them breathe easily. By the time the fourth inning was over, the Yankees had an 8-0 lead, they would go on to win 8-1. Sabathia was responsible for none of those runs. In a way, though, he might have had a hand in all of it. He makes everyone on the Yankees feel six inches taller _ even Aaron Judge, who made a spectacular catch and blasted out of his slump with a three-run home run.
When he was asked Sunday if he adds a little extra juice to his starts in a situation like this _ on the cusp of going down three games to none _ he all but laughed off the suggestion. "No, just go out and try to be aggressive in the strike zone, throw strikes and let them swing early in the count and get deeper in the game. Nothing different than I always do," he said.
As for having gone 9-0 with a 1.71 earned run average after Yankees defeats in the regular season and having put his team on solid footing with a solid no-decision in a winner-take-all Game 5 at Cleveland in the Division Series, he said: "It's just one of those stats of the year. It is what it is. I don't really think different after a win or a loss. Just one of those things."
Maybe, but the way he thoroughly stifled the Astros in the early going seemed more than happenstance. Houston is the rare modern team that does not strike out much, but Sabathia struck out four batters in the first two innings, notably stars Altuve and Carlos Correa. He allowed only one hit through four innings. In total, he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits.
Anyone who has watched the Yankees could have seen this coming. It was no surprise to Brian McCann of the Astros, the former Yankee who counts Sabathia among his closest friends. McCann said during a news conference Saturday: "I just admire guys that can play this game for a long time, because it's not easy. I don't know if there's many guys that would be pitching through the pain that CC pitches through. He's one of the best pitchers of our generation. In my opinion, I think he's a Hall of Famer. He's a big-game pitcher. And when you're around him and you see him in the clubhouse, it's just impressive; his presence is enormous."
