The Yankees have to be loving what they are seeing from veteran lefty CC Sabathia.
Sabathia picked up his second straight win, and threw yet another quality start in the Yankees' win over the Braves on the Fourth of July. He allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking three over six innings.
Unlike his last start against the Red Sox, Sabathia had to work out of trouble from the get-go. The first inning was hectic as a hit by pitch to Nick Markakis and walk to Kurt Suzuki loaded the bases with two outs. Ronald Acuna Jr., who was the hero in the extra-inning loss on Monday night, was up at the plate to do some damage.
However, Sabathia got him swinging on a 1-2 count to get out of the inning unscatched. The 37-year-old settled down after that frame as he cruised through the second, third, and fourth innings.
It was the top of the fifth where the Braves finally got to Sabathia, though. A walk to Ender Inciarte came back to bite Sabathia as an Ozzie Albies single and Danny Santana groundout brough Inciarte around to score.
Johan Camargo would add a solo homer in the sixth, but with five runs on the board for the Yankees, Sabathia didn't worry at all. He would finish the sixth inning strong, and walk off the mound with a win.
Sabathia enjoyed a great June with a 1.93 ERA over 32.2 innings, and he started July right where he left off. With the Yankees rotation still in question, Sabathia has been providing consistency each time manager Aaron Boone hands him the ball.