Mood Music - Miss You by The Rolling Stones
A belief is held that on the days that a true ace doesn't have his best stuff, they can still be expected to battle and give you a good chance to win. I'm not sure how much of that I buy into, but it definitely came to pass. New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia didn't have his sharpest stuff, missing location on his fastball and getting into a jam in nearly every inning. However, he only allowed two runs to score over eight innings, and the Yankees scratched out a win using some early offense.
Assisted by some strong defense and hard hit outs - with two line drive double plays off the bat of Brent Morel leaping to mind - it is decidedly against my nature to attribute the escapery to CC's guts. Here's what I will say though: Despite struggling with the command of his fastball all night, Sabathia didn't permit a single walk, challenged the White Sox hitters, and was able to pitch deep into the game.
If this is a bad day for Sabathia, and I'd say that it was, I think we can all live with it.
For the White Sox, Jake Peavy allowed three runs over seven innings. The Yankees put a rally together in the first inning with hits from Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, and Robinson Cano, and then moved Granderson around after a leadoff double in the third.
Play of the Game - Alexei Ramirez's two run home run increased the White Sox chances of winning by 16.8%. For the Yankees, Curtis Granderson's RBI double in the first inning gave them an 11.1% boost.
Comment of the Game - I'mGivingYouARaise, for reminding Eduardo Nunez to hit the ball around Dunn instead of directly to him.