CC Sabathia took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning Saturday, losing the closest call of his career on a sharp single by former batterymate Kelly Shoppach in the New York Yankees' 10-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
With a large contingent of Yankee fans among the Tropicana Field crowd of 29,892 chanting "Let's go, CC!'' Shoppach's hit on a 1-0 pitch off the big lefty with two outs in the eighth fell cleanly in front of left fielder Brett Gardner.
There was no visible reaction from the exhausted Yankees ace, who sat in the dugout for 17 minutes while New York scored four runs in the top of the eighth.
David Robertson pitched the final 1 1-3 innings to complete a combined two-hitter. Ben Zobrist doubled off the reliever with two outs in the ninth.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.