Sabathia Gets 20th Win As Yanks Rout O's
BALTIMORE (AP) — CC Sabathia became a 20-game winner for the first time in his stellar career, pitching the New York Yankees past the Baltimore Orioles 11-3 Saturday night.
Sabathia (20-6) leads the majors in victories. He twice finished seasons with 19 wins, and succeeded this year in his third try at No. 20.
Sabathia already had a Cy Young Award, a World Series championship and several All-Star selections to his credit over 10 seasons. Winning 20 games was about the only thing missing on his pitching resume.
The big lefty allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings for the AL East leaders. Sabathia, denied the milestone win in a home loss to the Orioles on Sept. 7, walked one and struck out four, improving to 14-2 all-time against Baltimore.
Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson homered for the Yankees.
Cano's two-run shot in the fifth put the second baseman at 101 RBIs. That gave the Yankees three infielders with 100 or more RBIs in a single season for the first time in franchise history - first baseman Mark Teixeira and third baseman Alex Rodriguez previously reached the mark.
Robert Andino homered and had three hits for Baltimore.
Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter each had two RBIs for New York and Brett Gardner had three hits.
Jeter was hit in the ribs by Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (10-14) on the game's first pitch and came around to score on Posada's two-run single later in the first. It marked the 13th time in Jeter's 16-year career that he has scored 100 or more runs in a season.
Jeter's sacrifice fly scored Gardner, who led off with a triple, for a 3-0 lead in the second.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the second on singles by Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold and a walk to Craig Tatum before Cesar Izturis hit a sacrifice fly.
A sacrifice fly by Ty Wigginton made it 3-2 in the third.
An RBI groundout by Jeter restored the Yankees' two-run cushion in the fourth.
In the fifth, Rodriguez singled and Cano followed with a homer onto the right-field flag court, his 28th.
Andino homered for the second straight game in the fifth.
Nick Swisher added an RBI double in the sixth off Orioles reliever Mark Hendrickson. Jeter reached on an infield single - a close play on which he spread his arms in a safe call as he crossed the bag ahead of shortstop Izturis' throw - and Swisher then doubled into the left-field corner.
Gardner singled and later scored on Alfredo Simon's wild pitch in the eighth. Granderson added a three-run shot, his 19th, in the ninth.
Notes: The last club with three infielders with 100 or more RBIs was the 2003 St. Louis Cardinals (1B Albert Pujols, 3B Scott Rolen, SS Edgar Renteria). The last American League club to turn the trick was the 2001 Oakland A's (SS Miguel Tejada, 1B Jason Giambi, 3B Eric Chavez). ... Teixeira was held out of the Yankees' starting lineup because of a deep bone bruise in his right thumb, a problem that has affected the switch-hitter's ability to swing from both sides of the plate. Teixeira also has been playing on a broken right small toe. ... The Orioles will shut down rookie RHP Jake Arrieta after an MRI performed Saturday morning revealed a bone spur in his right elbow. Arrieta went 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 18 starts and worked a career-high 174 1-3 innings between Triple-A Norfolk and Baltimore. Offseason surgery is a possibility, said manager Buck Showalter. ... Showalter said LHP Brian Matusz, who left Monday's game after one inning with a bruised left triceps after being struck by a liner by Toronto's Yunel Escobar, will make his scheduled Monday start. ... SS Manny Machado, the Orioles' first-round choice in the June amateur draft, was introduced to the sellout crowd of 48,775 in the middle of the third inning. The sellout was Baltimore's second of the season - the first since opening day.
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