|
|
"A lot of his numbers are sick. Unbelievable. He's doing stuff nobody is going to do again," said C.C. Sabathia of Greg Maddux.
"I like watching him pitch. He has incredible stuff," said Maddux of Sabathia.
Sunday at Progressive Field, these two polar opposites in the art of pitching locked arms, bringing some welcome juice to a game between two teams otherwise unburdened by juice or wins, for that matter.
Sabathia pitched the Indians to a 7-3 victory over Maddux and the San Diego Padres.
The win improves Sabathia's record to 5-8 this year and 105-71 in his career. The loss drops Maddux's record to 3-5 this year and 350-219 for his career.
"I was looking at his numbers the other day, and they are ridiculous," said Sabathia. "In 1997, he had 20 walks in 230 innings. He won 15 or more games 17 years in a row. That's impossible to do unless you're on a division winner every year, which he was. He really knows how to pitch. Somebody told me he was in the video room for four hours Friday because he'd never faced a lot of our guys before."
One of those guys was Ryan Garko, who was 0-for-3 in his first at-bats vs. the 42-year-old Maddux.
"Guys from my generation grew up watching Maddux, (John) Smoltz and (Tom) Glavine on TV, so it always opens your eyes whenever one of them is on the mound," said Garko.
Maddux pitched six innings Sunday, holding the Indians to two earned runs on eight hits. He did not walk a batter, the fifth time in his last eight starts he has not walked a batter.
Ben Francisco's three-run homer off Maddux in the third inning gave the Indians a 3-0 lead, and after Sabathia gave up three in the top of the fourth, the Indians regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI dribbler back to the mound hit by Casey Blake.
Blake's weak tapper was one of five balls hit back to the mound, or near it, in Maddux's six innings of work. Incredibly, he fielded one and threw wildly to first for just his 13th error this century.
Maddux has fewer errors this century than he has career Gold Gloves (17).
Maddux also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch Sunday, the first time he has done either this season.
Not that the Indians weren't impressed by a pitcher who is just 24 wins shy of reaching 374, which would place him third on the all-time list behind only Cy Young (511) and Walter Johnson (417).
"He's one of the best right-handers in the history of the game," said Tribe manager Eric Wedge. "What he's doing is special, and he's been doing it for a lot of years. He's a great competitor and very well-educated on how to get guys out. He's very good at making the baseball do what he wants it to do."
Sabathia wasn't too shabby himself Sunday, giving up three runs on six hits in eight innings, while striking out 10 and walking one.
In his last seven starts, Sabathia has a 2.21 ERA with 60 strikeouts and 11 walks - but a record of just 4-3.
After giving up three runs in the fourth inning Sunday, Sabathia pitched three scoreless innings, retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
"C.C. was good all day, as strong in the eighth inning as he was early in the game," said Wedge. "He's been very consistent with his endurance and going deep into games, which is what we like him to do."
Sabathia's record is still just a modest 5-8, due in part to the fact the Indians have scored two runs or fewer in nine of his 15 starts.
He says he isn't playing the what-if game with his record.
"I don't think about that because after my first four games my ERA was like 15," he said. "I owe what I've been doing lately to everyone in here (in the Indians' clubhouse)."
Leading, 4-3, the Indians scored three insurance runs late in the game, one coming on another home run by Grady Sizemore, his fifth homer in the last five games, ninth in the last 16 games and 17th overall, second only in the American League to Josh Hamilton's 18.
"I'm not trying to hit home runs. I just try to put a good swing on pitches and hopefully hit them into the gaps," said Sizemore.
"I would never call Grady a power guy," said Wedge. "He's a hitter who hunts the ball, but he'll hit his share of homers."
