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More than a feeling: CC aims for 11th victory vs. Brewers

Jun 30, 2011 - 2:34 PM (Sports Network) - New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi stated how staff ace CC Sabathia had his best stuff when he became the first starting pitcher in the majors with 10 wins last weekend.

The Yankees hope Girardi has similar feelings after Sabathia takes the hill this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series versus the Milwaukee Brewers in the Bronx. Sabathia, a former Brewer, can become the first starter with 11 wins and is 7-1 with a 3.03 earned run average in his last eight outings. Detroit's Justin Verlander is also gunning for his 11th win today.

Sabathia posted his third straight win in Saturday's 8-3 triumph over Colorado and delivered eight innings of one-run ball with a season high-tying nine strikeouts and only one walk.

"His stuff was as good as I've seen it all year," Girardi said. "He located his fastball extremely well, his slider was good, his changeup was good. It was as good as I've seen him all year."

Sabathia lifted his season ledger to 10-4 in 17 starts and lowered his ERA to 3.25, while improving to 4-2 in nine home starts. The 2007 AL Cy Young Award recipient even impressed former Yankees slugger and current Rockies designated hitter Jason Giambi following his latest performance.

"He was lights-out today," Giambi said. "That's what he normally does. He's their big ace, and he came with it."

In two career starts against the Brewers, Sabathia is 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA. He went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts for Milwaukee in 2008 after he was traded there from Cleveland. He then inked a mega deal with the Yankees in 2009 and helped them to a World Series title.

New York has won four in a row and 14 of its last 18 games, including Wednesday's 5-2 triumph over the Brewers in the second test of this set. A.J. Burnett recorded the win by holding the visitors to two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. David Robertson shut Milwaukee down with a scoreless eighth and future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera struck out one in the ninth for his 21st save.

"We've just played really well, executed well," Girardi said.

Russell Martin hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the fourth inning and Jorge Posada added a solo home run in the sixth for the Yankees, who lead the AL East by 2 1/2 games over Boston after the Red Sox lost for the second consecutive night in Philadelphia.

After today's game the Bronx Bombers will hit the road against the Mets and Indians. Yankees captain and All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter is still nursing a balky calf and could play in his first rehab game Saturday for Double-A Trenton.

Milwaukee's lead atop the NL Central is now one game over St. Louis after the Cardinals defeated Baltimore on Wednesday.

Shaun Marcum was roughed up for four runs and five hits in five innings to suffer the loss, while Ryan Braun finished with three hits and an RBI to extend his career-high hitting streak to 19 games. Braun was the only Brewer with multiple hits against Burnett.

"Burnett's got good stuff, he's got a real live fastball," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He's got a great curveball. When he needed to, he threw that curveball in a good spot. We did have chances, we had guys on base."

Prince Fielder had a hit and drove in a run to push his hitting streak to 11 games. Fielder leads the National League with 69 runs batted in. The Brewers will visit Minnesota for three games over the weekend and have dropped two straight since a three-game winning streak.

Milwaukee will send Randy Wolf to the mound today and he's 3-0 with a 2.30 earned run average in his last seven starts, with the Brewers going 6-1 over that stretch. Wolf won his second straight outing in last Friday's 4-3 victory over Minnesota, as he yielded three runs in seven innings to improve to 6-4 in 16 starts to go along with a 3.20 ERA.

The veteran left-hander is 3-3 in nine starts away from Miller Park and will face the Yankees for only the third time in his career. Wolf is 0-1 with a lofty 7.20 ERA over the first two starts in this series. Opposing hitters are batting .249 against him this season.

The Brewers won two of three matchups with the Yankees at Miller Park from June 6-8, 2005.