CC Sabathia Returns To California As New York Faces Los Angeles
CC Sabathia will be in his home state the next time he takes the mound.
The left-hander who is from Vallejo, CA and who is playing his last season in the major leagues will start game two of New York’s three game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday afternoon.
New York who is leading the American League East comes into the game with a record of 84-46 while Los Angeles who is leading the National League West comes into the game with a record of 85-45. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/standings
In this game New York will aim to win the series while the Los Angeles Dodgers will aim to bounce back from their series opening loss on Friday night.
As stated above,
CC Sabathia will start the game for New York. The veteran left-hander comes into the game with a record of 5-7 with a 5.01 earn run average. Barring a World Series rematch, this will be the final Dodger Stadium appearance for Sabathia, who is retiring after this season. He has pitched twice here, going 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA. He has excelled on the road in his career: 130-83 with a 3.82 ERA. He will oppose Los Angeles right -hander Tony Gonsolin who comes into the game with a record of 1-1 with a 3.00 earn run average.
As for the opening game between New York and Los Angeles,
New York’s three losses to begin the west coast trip in Oakland became a distant memory as they opened up their series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
James Paxton struck out 11 Dodgers to win his fifth consecutive start as the Yankees snapped their four-game skid with a 10-2 victory on Friday evening at Dodger Stadium. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"I was just pounding the strike zone," said Paxton, who wore “Big Maple” on his jersey for the Players’ Weekend opener. "I thought Gary [Sanchez] did a great job mixing up pitches back there, using the curveball really well. We used the cutter to the left-handers and did a good job executing those pitches. The guys did a great job playing 'D' and putting some runs on the board." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
The Yankees hit five homers, including three off Hyun-Jin Ryu as they dispatched the National League Cy Young Award front-runner to an early exit. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Aaron Judge and Sanchez belted solo third-inning homers and Didi Gregorius cracked his fifth career grand slam as part of a five-run fifth in support of Paxton, who improved to 5-0 with a 3.56 ERA in August -- numbers that have manager Aaron Boone pondering Paxton's viability for the first game of a postseason series. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"I feel like he's been on the verge of having this outing for a while now," Boone said. "I feel like he's been in a good place. It was really good to see him go out in this environment, coming off of a tough series. He really set the tone for us in a big way." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Most of the offensive damage came off Ryu, who had permitted just seven earned runs and three homers through his first 11 home starts. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
The Yankees doubled those totals, taking out any remaining frustrations from a three-game sweep in Oakland by boosting Ryu’s ERA from 1.64 to an even 2.00 while handing him his first home loss. Gleyber Torres added a solo homer off Yimi Garcia in the sixth and Gregorius hit his second home run of the game off Casey Sadler in the ninth. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"Oakland left a sour taste in our mouth," Judge said. "We came out here with our game plan and stayed in our zone, getting that big hit when we needed. We needed a rebound game, and this is what we got." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
The display helped build a healthy advantage for Paxton, who generated 29 swings and misses with his 109 pitches, equaling the Astros' Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander for the most in the Majors this year. Twelve of those swings and misses came on Paxton's knuckle curve. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"On top of him being really good, I don't think too many of our guys have seen Paxton," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "There was a lot of swing and miss out of the zone at the breaking ball down below. We typically don't do that. Hopefully, we'll get another crack at him at some point this season." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
A.J. Pollock knocked in a run with a third-inning infield hit, and an inherited run scored against Tommy Kahnle in the seventh as Paxton held the Dodgers' powerhouse lineup to two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"From my point of view, I’ve thought he has always had a good curveball," Sanchez said through a translator. "For me, if he is able to command the curveball and the cutter, it's a great combination. If he’s able to do that, he’s going to be great out there." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Hollywood knight
Gregorius said that he did not take it personally when the Dodgers elected to intentionally walk Sanchez in the fifth inning, with Ryu loading the bases to face Gregorius. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"Just go out there and try to put the ball in play," Gregorius said. "You want to come through for the team. [I thought,] 'Do not hit into a ground-ball double play.'" “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
He did much more, parking a grand slam to right field that busted the game open. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
“Didi is one of those guys that likes these environments,” Boone said. “Usually he puts his best foot forward in these bigger environments. He came up big for us tonight." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Hollywood knight
Gregorius said that he did not take it personally when the Dodgers elected to intentionally walk Sanchez in the fifth inning, with Ryu loading the bases to face Gregorius. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"Just go out there and try to put the ball in play," Gregorius said. "You want to come through for the team. [I thought,] 'Do not hit into a ground-ball double play.'" “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
He did much more, parking a grand slam to right field that busted the game open. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
“Didi is one of those guys that likes these environments,” Boone said. “Usually he puts his best foot forward in these bigger environments. He came up big for us tonight." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
All Rise
For the second time on this road trip (and the second time this season), Judge pulled a home run over the left-field wall, connecting on a line-drive laser that landed in the bleachers to open scoring in the third. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Judge also singled and scored in the fifth, then knocked in an eighth-inning run with a hit as he appears to be busting out of a three-week slump. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"Feeling good. Just getting some good pitches to hit," Judge said. "If I get it over the plate, I try to do some damage. Sometimes you don’t get too many pitches to hit, start to chase and go after some stuff. I just tried to stay in my zone, and you get rewarded for that." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Judge was 12-for-81 (.148) with one homer, four RBIs and 31 strikeouts in 21 games from July 25-Aug. 15. Since then, he is 10-for-25 (.400) with two homers and four RBIs in five games. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
"He's completing his move in his load, then getting off his good swing and making good swing decisions," Boone said. "I feel like he's getting started properly and getting on time. That's what he is. When he's on time, it's hard to keep greatness down. I'm excited that he's really starting to move like the guy we know he is." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-rout-dodgers-to-open-players-weekend
Meanwhile Los Angeles was on the other end of the spectrum in the opening game of the three game series.
It’s a three-game Interleague series in August, not a best-of-seven in October. But if Friday night’s Players’ Weekend opener between the Dodgers and Yankees really is a preview of the World Series, the Dodgers need to up their game. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
The Yankees overwhelmed them, 10-2, in a showdown between two of the game’s best current teams and historic franchises. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
We haven’t had many games like this,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Fortunately, it only counts as one loss. You lose a battle, hopefully you win the war, as far as the series. We just have to turn the page. It was an ugly one. You play 162 games, games like that are bound to happen.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
The Yankees deployed the Dodgers’ way to win -- worked counts, punished mistakes and dominated with starting pitching from James Paxton. They were the first team to slug five homers in a game against the Dodgers this year. Didi Gregorius hit two, including a grand slam, and Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres added solo shots. Three of the blasts came off Dodgers Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu, who didn’t get out of the fifth inning.”according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
“Commanding pitches is the most important part of my game, and I obviously couldn’t do that. If you look at the pitches they hit for homers today, they all ended up in quadrants I didn’t want,” said Ryu, who suffered his first home loss of the season. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
In 4 1/3 innings, Ryu (“류현진” for Players’ Weekend) was charged with seven runs, matching a season-worst he’d set at Coors Field. He has allowed five homers in his last two starts after serving up 10 in his first 22 starts. His MLB-leading ERA climbed from 1.64 to 2.00. He’s 12-4 after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this year. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
Ryu said he feels healthy, he just didn’t have command of his pitches. Roberts said the velocity is there, but the consistency isn’t. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
“I don’t know if fatigue is part of it,” said Roberts. “Still a lot of baseball to play. Right now, just two starts he wasn’t sharp.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
Neither was the Dodgers’ offense. Enrique Hernández, Thursday night’s walk-off hero, doubled twice to factor in the Dodgers’ two runs. But they also struck out 15 times. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
Paxton was really good tonight,” said Roberts. “Fastball 96-98, top of the zone. Curveball sharp. We just couldn't get good swings. On top of him being really good, I don't think too many of our guys have seen Paxton. So there was a lot of swing and miss out of the zone at the breaking ball down below. We typically don't do that. Hopefully, we'll get another crack at him at some point this season." “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
That was as close as Roberts came to linking this series to a third consecutive World Series for his club. Most of the postgame, however, was spent trying to explain how his team was so soundly beaten. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
Judge got the Yankees on the board with one out in the third inning by blasting a 414-foot home run on a 1-2 changeup, his 14th and the first allowed at home by Ryu since April 26. One out later, Sanchez sent Ryu’s 1-1 cutter deep for his 29th home run and a 2-0 lead. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
The Yankees blew it open in the fifth on a single by DJ LeMahieu, a blooper by Judge that beat the shift for a single, an intentional walk of Sanchez to load the bases and Gregorius’ slam, his 12th home run of the year and the first grand slam Ryu has allowed in the Major Leagues. “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
“I think it was the right choice to walk Sanchez,” said Ryu. “The pitch to Didi was a mistake. He did a good job jumping on the first pitch, and he hurt me there. I wish I made more pitches to expand the strike zone.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/hyun-jin-ryu-allows-3-yankees-homers-in-loss
First pitch is set for 4:05pm from Dodger Stadium. . The game will be televised on FS1, Yes and SportsNet LA and SNLA Spanish.