With the New York Yankees in a heavy battle with the Baltimore Orioles for the American League East crown, ace C.C. Sabathia finally came through in Friday's start for the Yanks.  The star lefthander will look to duplicate that success when he takes on the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday at 1:10 PM ET in the final matchup of the three-game series.

The Yankees (89-65) are only leading Baltimore by a measly 1 ½ games in the East, and a strong start out of Sabathia would clearly be crucial in helping New York maintain that small cushion getting closer to the postseason in October.

Usually durable, the star lefthander has had two stints on the disabled list this year, as he missed time with elbow soreness and a groin strain. 

Sabathia pitched 7 1/3 innings and only gave up 4 hits against the Cleveland Indians on Aug. 24 to pick up the win in a 3-1 game.  However, the victory was his last, and his velocity has decreased since.  Before Sabathia's strong outing on Friday, he was 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA in his last four starts.

According to the New York Yankees official website, manager Joe Girardi acknowledged both the pitcher's struggles and reliability.

"I know it's been a season where it hasn't been vintage C.C., but here's a guy with an ERA under 3.50 and we're not calling it vintage CC."

Sabathia also spoke to the site about his strong performance in Friday's start.

"I was just trying not to overthrow.  I felt pretty good coming out of the bullpen.  I just wanted to make sure I kept my delivery together and make sure I commanded the ball.  The velocity will come and go so it's up to me to make pitches."

In his career, the workhorse hurler has done extremely well against the Minnesota Twins in the past, going 17-8 with a 2.99 ERA in 33 starts against them.  Sabathia has been even more impressive in his last ten outings against the Twins, as he has compiled a 9-0 record with a 1.93 ERA. 

Rookie Samuel Deduno (6-5, 4.54 ERA) will take the mound for Minnesota, who will look to win two in a row against the Yankees for the first time since June 2008.

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Tags: mlb television New York Yankees