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Sabathia aims to regain Cy Young form vs. A's

Apr 11, 2008 - 1:45 PM Oakland (6-4) at Cleveland (4-5) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - C.C. Sabathia looks to shake off the early season rust on Friday as the Cleveland Indians host the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia has struggled thus far and is still in search of his first win. The 6-7, 290-pound Sabathia has looked nothing like the pitcher that went 19-7 with a career-best 3.21 ERA last season.

The A's have been partly responsible for his slow start. The lefthander was touched for four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-1 loss to Oakland on Saturday.

Prior to that, Sabathia (0-1, 7.59) was pounded for five runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 10-8 Opening Day loss to the Chicago White Sox on March 31.

What is more concerning is that Sabathia is issuing walks at an alarming rate. Last season he averaged 1.38 walks, but has walked seven batters in 10 2/3 innings.

"I am concerned about it, because it's a lot of walks," Sabathia said. "But I'm not losing any sleep over it, either, because it's early."

Cleveland, which has lost five of seven, hopes Sabathia can regain his 2007 form quickly. The Indians are coming off a 9-5 loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Oakland is coming off a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. Travis Buck snapped a tie with a two-run double in the 12th inning to lead the A's to a 3-2 victory on Friday.

Joe Blanton (0-2, 3.44) will look to keep the momentum going and pick up his first win of the season. The righthander has allowed just four runs in his last 12 2/3 innings, but has been on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision in each of his first two starts.