Sabathia piles on one more gem
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AP Photo/Morry Gash
CC Sabathia's remarkable run with the Brewers will continue into the postseason.
SABATHIA DOMINANT ONCE MORE
By Mark Simon, ESPN Research
Another huge performance on Sunday by CC Sabathia put the Brewers in the postseason for the first time since 1982. Pitching on three days' rest -- again -- Sabathia delivered a complete-game gem for his 11th victory since being obtained from the Indians. With the effort, Sabathia completed one of the best National League pitching performances in the live-ball era. Now, it's on to the playoffs. Sabathia's postseason history is shaky; his performance against the Red Sox in last year's ALCS was not impressive. In his career, Sabathia is 1-2 with a 7.17 ERA in four postseason starts. Several comparable hired guns of recent vintage have found the playoffs to be a lot tougher than the regular season.| Best ERA by NL pitcher in live-ball era, since 1920 (min. 130 innings) | ||
| Bob Gibson | 1968 | 1.12 |
| Dwight Gooden | 1985 | 1.53 |
| Steve Rogers | 1973 | 1.54 |
| Greg Maddux | 1994 | 1.56 |
| Rich Gossage | 1997 | 1.62 |
| Greg Maddux | 1995 | 1.63 |
| CC Sabathia | 2008 | 1.65 |
| Notable midseason pitching acquisitions | ||||
| CC Sabathia | Randy Johnson | Doyle Alexander | Rick Sutcliffe | |
| Team | Brewers | Astros | Tigers | Cubs |
| Year | 2008 | 1998 | 1987 | 1984 |
| W-L | 11-2 | 10-1 | 9-0 | 16-1 |
| ERA | 1.65 | 1.28 | 1.53 | 2.69 |
| Starts | 17 | 11 | 11 | 20 |
| Postseason W-L | ? | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-1 |
TOUCH 'EM ALL
Who went deep? Keep track of all the home runs hit each day on "Baseball Tonight" and on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page.
Click here to find out who hit the longest home run. For more, check out the Home Run Tracker page.
| Home Run Tracker | |||||
| NAME | HR | OPP | PITCHER | SITUATION | |
| C. Granderson, Det | 22 | TB | Talbot | Bot 3: 2-1, 1 Outs. 2 on. | |
| V. Wells, Tor | 19 | Bal | Guthrie | Top 2: 0-0, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| L. Montz, Was | 1 | Phi | Kendrick | Top 3: 0-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| L. Overbay, Tor | 15 | Bal | Guthrie | Top 4: 0-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| J. Peralta, Cle | 23 | CWS | Buehrle | Top 2: 1-0, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| R. Baldelli, TB | 4 | Det | Miner | Top 5: 2-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| P. Konerko, CWS | 22 | Cle | Bullington | Bot 2: 2-0, 1 Outs. None on. | |
| R. Ludwick, StL | 37 | Cin | Pettyjohn | Bot 1: 0-1, 2 Outs. 1 on. | |
| E. Hinske, TB | 20 | Det | Miner | Top 5: 0-1, 2 Outs. 1 on. | |
| V. Wells, Tor | 20 | Bal | Simon | Top 5: 1-2, 1 Outs. 2 on. | |
| B. Ausmus, Hou | 3 | Atl | Hampton | Bot 3: 0-0, 0 Outs. 1 on. | |
| T. Glaus, StL | 27 | Cin | Pettyjohn | Bot 3: 3-2, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| E. Encarnacion, Cin | 26 | StL | Thompson | Top 4: 2-0, 0 Outs. 1 on. | |
| X. Nady, NYY | 12 | Bos | Matsuzaka | Top 4: 1-1, 2 Outs. 2 on. | |
| C. Beltran, NYM | 27 | Fla | Olsen | Bot 6: 1-0, 1 Outs. 1 on. | |
| J. Votto, Cin | 24 | StL | Jimenez | Top 6: 3-2, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| L. Marson, Phi | 1 | Was | Estrada | Bot 8: 1-2, 1 Outs. 1 on. | |
| M. Stairs, Phi | 2 | Was | Estrada | Bot 8: 0-0, 1 Outs. None on. | |
| M. Ordonez, Det | 21 | TB | Jackson | Bot 9: 2-2, 0 Outs. 1 on. | |
| T. Buck, Oak | 7 | Sea | Dickey | Top 1: 1-2, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| W. Helms, Fla | 5 | NYM | Schoeneweis | Top 8: 1-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| D. Uggla, Fla | 32 | NYM | Ayala | Top 8: 3-2, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| R. Braun, Mil | 37 | ChC | Howry | Bot 8: 0-0, 2 Outs. 1 on. | |
| B. Zobrist, TB | 12 | Det | Lambert | Top 11: 2-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| M. Napoli, LAA | 20 | Tex | Millwood | Bot 5: 0-0, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| A. LaRoche, Pit | 25 | SD | LeBlanc | Top 4: 1-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| S. Pearce, Pit | 4 | SD | LeBlanc | Top 4: 0-1, 0 Outs. None on. | |
| C. Young, Ari | 22 | Col | Corpas | Bot 8: 1-0, 1 Outs. None on. | |
BBTN ON THE AIR: TUESDAY
| TIME | WHO'S ON? |
| 10 p.m. ET ESPN |
Host: Karl Ravech Analyst: John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian, Peter Gammons |
| 12 a.m. ET ESPN |
Host: Karl Ravech Analyst: John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian |
BBTN MINUTE: TIGERS CAN PLAY SPOILER MONDAY
SUNDAY'S NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES
| GOOD |
 • Aside, of course, from Sabathia … it's a tie, between the Twins' Scott Baker and the White Sox's Mark Buehrle. Baker permitted just four hits over seven shutout innings in a 6-0 win. Buehrle gave up nine hits, but only allowed one run over his seven innings to keep the White Sox alive. |
BAD |
 • Ryan Church went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Mets' 4-2 loss against the Marlins, a defeat which cost them a spot in the postseason. |
UGLY |
 • And yes, one final time, the Mets' bullpen wins the "ugly" award. With Sunday's game against the Marlins tied at 2, Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning as the Mets closed out Shea Stadium with a crushing loss. |
FORWARD THINKING: MONDAY
• Tigers at White Sox, 2:05 p.m. ET: The White Sox win, they play Tuesday against the Twins for the AL Central title and the final spot in the postseason. They lose, their season is over and the Twins win the division. Chicago sends Gavin Floyd (16-8, 3.91 ERA) to the mound. He is 2-0 with a 4.24 ERA against the Tigers in four starts this season. Freddy Garcia (1-1, 4.50 ERA) can ruin things for his old team. Garcia was a key ingredient in the White Sox's 2005 championship team. Now, he's a pitcher trying to recover from arm trouble. This will be Garcia's third start of the season. He lasted five innings in each of his previous two outings.
STAT OF THE DAY
According to Inside Edge's scouting data, Monday's starter for the Detroit Tigers, Freddy Garcia, has only pitched 10 innings this season since returning earlier this month from an injured shoulder, but he has yet to allow a hit on a two-strike count, retiring 15 hitters and walking one. A look at the league's best pitchers with two strikes in September shows one playoff team that has been stellar in this department. The Brewers have three pitchers in the league's top five, none of them named Sabathia:
| Pitchers with the lowest BA against on two-strike counts in September (min. 30 AB) | ||||
| Pitcher | Team | BA | Hits | ABs |
| Ben Sheets | Brewers | .057 | 2 | 35 |
| Brian Bass | Orioles | .059 | 2 | 34 |
| Manny Parra | Brewers | .061 | 2 | 33 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | Rockies | .071 | 3 | 42 |
| Dave Bush | Brewers | .073 | 3 | 41 |
FANTASY: PREVIEW OF MONDAY'S GAME
Adam Madison examines the pitching matchup in Monday's game between the Tigers and White Sox.
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