CC Sabathia tries to pitch the New York Yankees to a series win on Wednesday when they wrap up a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
Sabathia was terrific in his return from the disabled list on Friday in Cleveland, as he allowed a run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings. He also struck out nine and won his sixth straight decision to run his record to 13-3, while lowering his ERA to 3.44.
"I felt pretty good. I was excited to get out there today," said Sabathia, who had been sidelined since Aug.8 because of elbow soreness.
Sabathia tossed six scoreless innings to beat the Jays the last time he faced them and is an impressive 13-3 lifetime against them with a 3.00 ERA in 17 starts.
New York bounced back from a loss in Monday's opener on Tuesday, as Phil Hughes pitched seven strong innings and Rafael Soriano rebounded from a blown save in the opener to help the Yankees eke out a 2-1 win.
Ricky Romero (8-12) pitched well enough to get his first win since June 22, but Toronto's offense was limited to four hits, a night after the Blue Jays rallied for an 8-7 win in 11 innings.
Romero allowed five hits and the two runs over seven innings, while fanning six batters, but lost his 11th straight decision over a 12-start span.
"I've been working hard all week, the guys, everyone has kind of been helping me out through this," Romero said of his struggles. "I'm just going to build off of this."
Hughes (13-11) fanned five and the AL East leaders got perfect innings out of David Robertson and Soriano to win for third time in their last eight contests.
The Blue Jays, who snapped an eight-game road skid on Monday, got a homer from Adeiny Hechavarria in the fifth inning. It was the first long ball of his major league career, but Toronto lost for the eighth time in its last nine overall.
To make matters worse the Jays announced on Tuesday that two-time defending AL home run champion Jose Bautista will have season-ending left wrist surgery next week. He is expected to be ready for spring training.
Toronto will rely on lefty J.A. Happ in Wednesday's finale. Happ did not get a decision on Thursday in Detroit, but pitched well, surrendering a run and four hits in 7 1/3 frames. He also struck out seven and walked three in the 3-2 loss.
Since being acquired from the Astros, Happ is 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA in eight games (4 starts).
Happ beat the Yankees back on Aug. 12 and is 1-0 in two starts against them with a 4.63 ERA.
The Yanks have won six of 10 from the Jays this season.
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