Sizemore is a thorn in CC's side

With the Yankees leading 2-1 in the eighth inning Wednesday night and CC Sabathia facing a critical moment in the game, Joe Girardi approached the mound and gave his ace a simple affirmation.

"This is your game," Girardi told Sabathia.

"Yeah and 'Make pitches,' " Sabathia said of his manager's instructions. "And I didn't. And it cost me."

Sabathia allowed only three runs in 71/3 innings but his hiccup in the eighth was enough to cost him his 18th win in a game eventually won by the A's, 6-4, in 10 innings.

With a one-run lead and the tying run on second base, Sabathia faced Scott Sizemore, who already had two hits in the game.

After throwing two curveballs for strikes against the Oakland third baseman, Sizemore doubled to left to score Kurt Suzuki and tie it at 2.

"Tried to throw the slider down and in but I left it over the plate," Sabathia said of the 0-and-2 pitch.

After Sizemore's hit, Girardi returned to the mound, this time to replace Sabathia with David Robertson.

"It's tough," Sabathia said of his night. "Especially when we get the lead -- a big home run by [Nick] Swisher -- you want to go out and shut it down. It didn't happen tonight."

Although he does not have a wealth of experience in facing Sizemore, Sabathia has not fared well against the A's infielder.

Sizemore, who was 4-for-4 Wednesday night, is now 6-for-10 against Sabathia.

"I haven't figured it out, yet," Sabathia said when asked what makes Sizemore a difficult hitter for him. "He had everything I had tonight. I threw him a fastball in, he gets a base hit. I throw him two curveballs and a cutter and he gets another hit, a big hit, so hopefully I can figure it out soon."

"I don't know if he ran out of gas, he might have just missed his location a little bit," Swisher said of Sabathia's late-game matchup against Sizemore. "Sizemore had a great game as well -- he had four hits for them."

Sabathia, who recorded a no-decision last night, has won just one of his last four starts. He is 1-2 with a 5.72 ERA over that stretch.

Swisher, who has three home runs in the last two games, said he isn't concerned about Sabathia.

"Either way, man, I'll take him any day of the week," Swisher said.

"That's the guy we want on the mound and we're going to live with him or die with him."