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Two of the game's active leaders in pitching wins, CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle, face off against each other in the Yankees-Blue Jays series finale Wednesday night in Toronto. No left-handers currently pitching have more wins than Sabathia (208) and Buehrle (202). However, neither one of the veteran hurlers have pitched to the level of their impressive resumes so far in 2015.
Sabathia's 0-4 mark is not pretty to look at, nor is his 5.40 ERA. However, a closer examination of his season indicates that maybe it hasn't quite been that bad. In three of Sabathia's five starts to date, he has pitched seven innings or more, while allowing four or fewer earned runs. Only one of his starts can really be characterized as "bad", his outing against the Mets on April 25th. The last time CC pitched, he received a no decision in Boston last Friday after pitching six innings of two-run ball against the Red Sox. Sabathia's first start of the season came against the Blue Jays back on April 9th, in which he took the loss after allowing four runs in five and two-thirds innings. In that game, Sabathia did register eight strikeouts against no walks. The 34-year-old lefty has pitched well in his career at Rogers Centre, posting a 7-1 record and 2.95 ERA in nine starts north of the border.
Buehrle's season thus far is a great testament to why many considered individual pitcher wins to be an outdated statistic. The lefty is 3-2, which looks fine, but his ERA is 6.75, or nearly a full run-and-a-half higher than Sabathia's. Buehrle's most recent start was his worst, yielding eight earned runs on 11 hits against Cleveland on May 1st, earning a loss. In his last 10 innings pitched, spanning two starts, Buehrle has given up a remarkable 24 hits. In his career against the Bombers, Buehrle has been pretty bad with a 1-14 record and 6.21 ERA in 21 starts. A season ago, Buehrle was 0-4 with a 6.83 ERA against New York.
With a win, the Yankees will secure their sixth straight series victory. First pitch is set for 7:07 pm EST and can be seen on YES.
Tonight's lineup: Ellsbury 8 Young 7 Arod DH Teixeira 3 McCann 2 Beltran 9 Headley 5 Drew 6 Pirela 4 Sabathia 1. Petit to the DL (hand)
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) May 6, 2015