Yankees LHP Sabathia exits game with right knee pain

The burly left-hander was placed on the disabled list Monday with right knee inflammation.

The injury to Sabathia is just another negative mark on his recent resume as the pitcher has simply not had the season he needed to have. While all of them for the most part have been pitching well, only Ivan Nova has postseason experience, which would mean the Yankees would throw out an inexperienced postseason rotation should the team make it that far. He is 1-3 with a 5.85 ERA against the Yankees, including an 8-6 loss on August 13. His mental makeup also appeared to be affected, as he struggled with energy and excitement on his days of work.

“I was just saying, ‘Screw it, ‘” Sabathia said. While it’s nearly assured that Kansas City will be a division victor for the first time since 1985, it’s looking more and more like the Baltimore Orioles, who won the NL East previous year with 96 victories, will NOT be playing past October 4th in 2015. Although Kipnis and LF Michael Brantley entered Sunday a combined 2-for-19 off LHP CC Sabathia, manager Terry Francona did not want to have both off on the same day. He gave up a two-run homer to first baseman Carlos Santana with two outs in the first on a pitch clocked at 88 miles per hour. They did draw six walks, but Trevor Bauer does lead the league in walks. Marchand reports the pitcher will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the damage. The New York captain has been out of the majors since April 14 because of a back problem, and recently finished up a rehab stint in the minors.

“It is super frustrating because it is still in there”, Sabathia said.

“I don’t know. It stinks that it is a day game, ” Teixeira said.

“There’s still a lot of confidence in that room”, manager Mike Scioscia said after holding a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Toronto closed to 5-3 in the second when a hard grounder to third base by Troy Tulowitzki with one out and the bases loaded got past Cowart for an error that allowed two runs to score. Teixeira missed his sixth straight with a bruised right lower leg, though he played catch on the field and took batting practice for the first time since fouling a ball of his leg Monday…. I like Chen but he’s in the WRONG place at the WRONG time here in Kansas City, as his team is a mess while the Royals are cruising plus send Cueto to the mound in an angry, bounce-back frame of mind. He made a tough play yesterday and threw the ball away but I feel good about Head there. “I’m not sure about that now”, Girardi said…. Sabathia departed in the third inning with right knee pain. That distinction belonged to discussions about Astros center fielder Carlos Gomez getting in a heated exchange with the Yankees after tossing his bat following a flyout.

CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.24 ERA) saw his winless streak extended to six outings with a no-decision against Minnesota on Tuesday, yielding four runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings.