CC Sabathia focusing on Mets' lineup, not pitching against Matt Harvey
New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia delivers in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in a baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Whether it's Felix Hernandez or David Price or Matt Harvey -- as will be the case Saturday -- CC Sabathia doesn't get too caught up in whom he's pitching against.
Sabathia was asked if facing the Mets' ace will give him an extra adrenaline boost. "No," the lefthander said Friday.
He added later: "I think people that know me here know that I don't get excited about facing other pitchers. It's really just the lineup."
Sabathia is 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA but has improved each time out. He was very good in Monday night's 2-1 loss to Detroit, allowing two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
"Just trying to get better each time out," said Sabathia, who allowed homers to Juan Lagares, David Wright and Lucas Duda in an exhibition start against the Mets March 22 in Port St. Lucie. "[It hasn't] equated to wins, but hopefully it will. We just need to stay the course and hopefully it will turn around."
The Mets brought an 11-game winning streak into Friday night's 6-1 win by the Yankees, who now have won seven of eight. Sabathia, 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in four career starts against the Mets as a Yankee, said the fact that both Subway Series teams are on a roll is something to be excited about.
"Obviously, they're the hottest team in baseball and we've been playing pretty good," he said. "So I think it will make for a fun weekend."
Bullpen changeup?With the Mets' righty-heavy lineup, Joe Girardi didn't rule out flipping righthander Dellin Betances and lefthander Andrew Miller during this series. Said Girardi, "It's something I might think about doing."
Betances is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 91/3 innings. Miller is 6-for-6 in saves with a 0.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 71/3 innings.
K-Long pulling for A-RodFormer Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, now with the Mets, had a close working relationship with Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod even wrote the foreword to Long's book.
"I want Alex to do well," Long said. "I worked with him a lot of years and I'm glad he's off to a good start."
With Anthony Rieber
