CC Sabathia earns 20th victory as Yankees beat Orioles, 11-3

US PresswireCC Sabathia earned his 20th win of the season against the Orioles Saturday.

BALTIMORE — Behind every 20-game winner toils an offense that must pile on runs of support, a defense that turns harmful hits into easy outs, a bullpen that holds the leads it inherits, no matter how big or small.

For no matter how well a pitcher may perform, he only controls half of the equation behind a victory.

Perhaps that’s why the Yankees could feel so good following an 11-3 rout of the Orioles Saturday night, after helping ace left-hander CC Sabathia become the first pitcher in the major leagues to win 20 games.

“To be able to be on this organization, on this team, and to win 20 first in the majors, it feels good,” said Sabathia, who reached the plateau for the first time in his career.

Now more than ever, the win statistic has become as much a gauge of team success as it had been an individual barometer, and Sabathia’s historic “W” served as a fitting example.

Sabathia lived up to his end of the deal, scattering seven hits over seven innings while holding the Orioles to just three runs. Meanwhile, the Yankees offense busted out of a slump, the defense set the tone with a hit-saving play, and Sabathia never relinquished the lead.

The Yankees stayed a half-game ahead in the East of the Rays, who defeated the Angels 4-3 Saturday night.

“The guys swung the bats, put some runs on the board, and took some of the pressure off,” said Sabathia, who by reaching the magic number positioned himself for a run at his second Cy Young Award.

Jorge Posada’s bases loaded double in the first gave Sabathia a two-run cushion before he even threw his first pitch. Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer, after making a nimble, cross-body throw in the first inning to take away what would have been a leadoff hit for Brian Roberts.

“That could have changed the complexion of the game,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

For Cano, the homer was the latest sign of his emergence as one of the game’s top offensive producers. The two-run shot gave him his 101st RBI, the first time in his career he has eclipsed the century mark.

“It means a lot,” said Cano, who has capably replaced Hideki Matsui in the fifth spot and done the job while spelling Alex Rodriguez as the cleanup hitter. “It’s one of those things you want to do in the game.”

Derek Jeter added two RBI and Nick Swisher chipped in a run-scoring double in his first start after a week-long absence with a knee injury. Of course, the Yankees’ bats had plenty of motivation.

Though Sabathia said the approaching milestone hardly entered his mind — the team’s pursuit of the American League East title has been his main concern — Swisher admitted that the offense wanted to help their ace to a special milestone.

“To finally get him that 20th win, that thing that has almost been eluding him his whole career, to be able to get that for him he’s got to be on cloud nine tonight,” Swisher said.

Sabathia (20-6) left after the seventh inning with a four-run lead, but the Yankees seemed intent in leaving no doubt that his 20th victory was in the bag.

Brett Gardner scored on a wild pitch and Curtis Granderson hit a three-run homer in the ninth to cap a 13-hit flurry. While the team’s offense had struggled throughout this three-city road trip, leaving the Yankees feeling as if they had fallen one hit short of breaking games open, those hits came in bunches.

“You always want to come up with it at some point,” said Granderson.

Sabathia became the first Yankee to win 20 games since Mike Mussina accomplished the feat in his final season in 2008.

“I’m really happy for him tonight,” Girardi said. “He has been our ace all year, and really since he got here. To get to 20 wins, it’s really quite an accomplishment.”

In the first two seasons of a seven-year, $161 million deal, Sabathia’s 39 victories are the most for any Yankee in their first two seasons since Tommy John won 43 in 1979-80. And as the Yankees proved once again last night, it was a feat made possible only with the help of the team behind him.

Said Swisher: “To be part of that, to be able to share something with CC — 20 wins — as a team and as the New York Yankees, we take a lot of pride in that.”

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Curtis Granderson's poundage vs. power, The Boss is immortalized and what's ailing Rays P Matt Garza

John Munson/The Star-LedgerYankees CF Curtis Granderson (right) celebrates with Derek Jeter and Francisco Cervelli after driving both in on a three-run HR Monday night.

With additional reporting by: Dave D'Alessandro/Star-Ledger Sports Columnist and Marc Carig/The Star-Ledger

NEW YORK — From a pure pound-for-pound standpoint, Curtis Granderson is certainly maxing out his value. You see, he is just 185 pounds — the fourth-lightest guy on the Yankees every day roster. That puts him in the inauspicious category of guys like Eduardo Nunez (155 pounds), Ramiro Pena (165 pounds) and Brett Gardner (also 185 pounds).

The first two are role players and Gardner's offensive value is almost purely based on his speed on the basepaths. So, how in the world is Granderson fifth on the team in home runs?

Even he doesn't know.

"No, it's something that kind of happened," Granderson said. "The fact that I've been able to compact the swing a little bit makes myself quicker, therefore I get myself a little more out front of the ball. When we keep ourselves compact, we're out front the right way."

The results couldn't have come at a better time for the Yankees on Monday night. Granderson smacked two home runs — the first into the Yankees bullpen and the second clanging off the right-field foul pole in the sixth inning.

After starting off the season in dreadful fashion (in addition to being injured, as well), Granderson is coming on at the perfect time. He's not trying to hit for power, it's just sort of, well ... a bonus.

"I thought I'd have a better chance to consistently get to more balls," he said of his new approach. "The power was one of those things that I didn't even consider before today, before this season. It's kind of one of those things that happened."

When it comes to honoring their former heroes, few organizations do it like the Yankees.

Monday night was no exception, as the Yankees finally unveiled the tribute to owner George Steinbrenner in Monument Park in center field. The massive plaque dedicated to Steinbrenner who died of a heart attack in July, is the seventh monument. It joins Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Miller Huggins and Jacob Ruppert in the lofty status.

"There's not too many monuments here," Yankee captain Derek Jeter said. "The Boss deserves one as much as anyone."

With Steinbrenner's monument being unveiled for the first time, it brought back a number of Yankee luminaries. In addition to the much-ballyhooed return of Joe Torre and Don Mattingly, David Wells, Tino Martinez, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson and Roy White were also on hand to personally take part in the ceremony with members of the Steinbrenner family.

In addition, Steinbrenner's granddaughter — Haley Swindal — sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch, fulfilling a promise she made to her grandfather that she would one day sing in Yankee Stadium.

Jeter, who was beloved by Steinbrenner since 1996 when he led the Yankees to their first World Series title since 1978, had the best line about the new monument. Upon seeing its size, Jeter quipped:

"It's big. It was big. Just how the Boss wanted it. The biggest one out there. Think he would have liked that idea?"

Matt Garza is considered one of the main reasons why the Rays have the rest of the American League on its toes waiting to see how October pans out. He is 14-8 this season, with a respectable 3.88 ERA and has struck out 138 batters. He has good command and a good arsenal of pitches.

So what's up? Why has he struggled in back-to-back games against the Yankees?

"Just nicks and bruises here and there, but nothing dramatic," Garza said. "Nothing huge that can put a halt on this train from going. But it's just wear and tear of the season."

Still, it's has to be of some concern that Garza — considered the Rays No. 2 pitcher after staff ace David Price — has 11 earned runs in six days against the Yankees. A team that Tampa Bay will have to go through this week to get a leg up in the AL East race and potentially, the ALCS down the road.

"I think that his stuff is good," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I just think that he's trying to do too much right now. He did not have his normal good location with his fastball tonight. His pitch-making ability has not been the same lately. Again, I just think that he's trying too hard and overthrowing the ball."

Add in the four earned runs Garza gave up to the Yankees in a start at the end of July and that's 15 earned runs in 16 2/3 innings this season again his team's No. 1 opponent. But despite that, the Rays are just 1-2 in those three games with a losing deficit of three runs.

For that, he's remaining upbeat.

"Got any cliches?" Garza said. "When these guys play us they know they have their hands full. They know no lead is safe. So we have to grind it out and play these last 14 games."

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