Sabathia mows down Mariners in thumping

Hideki Matsui had a huge night at the plate, and CC Sabathia was nearly unhittable for eight innings as the Yankees (72-43) crushed the Mariners (60-55) 11-1.

Quick ‘Cap:
Matsui hit his first two-run homer in the third inning to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead, and then hit his 19th of the season in the eighth to make it 11-1. Derek Jeter also added his 14th homer of the season in the third.

Meanwhile, Sabathia only allowed one run on a home run by Seattle’s worst hitter, Josh Wilson. Wilson pulled an inside slider barely over the wall in left, but that the only blip on a fantastic night for CC: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K. Six starters had multi-hit games in the thumping. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
I was kind of waiting for a night like this. A night where the offense was unstoppable, and the pitching was lights out. For it to come on the first night of a 10-game road trip is a nice tone-setter.

By the way, this trampling came without boppers Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. How many runs will they score tomorrow night?

Line of the Night:
Matsui: 4-for-5, 2 HR, 4 R, 5 RBI. I think Matsui likes it in Seattle with all of the attention to the other major Japanese player in baseball, Ichiro Suzuki. This was Matsui’s first four-hit game of the season.

Up Next:
The Yankees bring out Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.14) for game 2 to face Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 3.86).