Ace Is Wild in Yankee Debut

This isn't what the Yankees were hoping for when they signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million contract this offseason.

The left-handed ace walked five and threw two wild pitches during a 4.1 inning outing that included eight hits and six earned runs.

The big man couldn't locate his fastball all afternoon, which forced him to throw an inordinate amount of breaking balls.  The end result was a 10-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on opening day.

But before the haters start gloating about how the Yanks overpaid for one of the best pitchers in baseball, let's remember that this is only one start of about 33 Sabathia will make this year.

Grading the Yankees is back.  Like last year, I will give each Bomber a letter grade after as many games as I can write about to determine who was most responsible for each individual win or loss.

Here are the marks from Monday's contest at Camden Yards.

Joe Girardi, Manager (C) - With a runner on second and no one out in a three-run game in the sixth, Girardi should have had Cody Ransom (a lifetime .251 hitter) bunt Xavier Nady over to third so the left-handed Brett Gardner could have pulled the ball to the right side, scoring Nady and bringing the Yanks within two at 6-4.  Instead, Ransom struck out swinging and New York failed to add any more runs that inning.

But to the manager's credit, he did have Gardner lay one down in the same situation in the eighth; Derek Jeter just couldn't get the job done.

I agree with leaving Phil Coke in to pitch the eighth, despite the fact that he gave up a two-run homer to put the game on ice.  Coke pitched well over the previous 1.1 and there was no reason to take him out at that point.

Derek Jeter, SS: (A-) The Captain had three hits in his new role as the lead-off hitter, but he failed in his most important at bat of the game.  With a runner on third and one out in the eighth, Jeter just needed to hit a fly ball to tie the game.  Instead, he grounded to the drawn-in shortstop, stranding Ramiro Pena at third.

Johnny Damon, LF: (A+) The new No. 2 hitter had a solid afternoon, going 2-3 with a triple, walk and sac fly.  He also scored a run and almost made a tremendous catch over the wall in left but had the ball knocked away by a fan.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (D-) Another terrible debut for one of the new Yankees.  The Maryland native went 0-4 with a walk and left four men on base while being booed mercilessly by the hometown crowd.

Hideki Matsui, DH: (B+) Godzilla had just one hit but it was a big one as he took Chris Ray deep for a two-run homer in the seventh.

Jorge Posada, C: (A) Posada also homered and threw out one of two base stealers.  The right shoulder looks good so far.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A-) Cano went 1-3 with two walks and a run scored.

Xavier Nady, RF: (B) Nady hit an RBI double and walked but he also grounded into a rally-killing double play.

Cody Ransom, 3B: (F) A-Rod's replacement went 0-3 with a strikeout, left three on and bobbled a ball at third base.

Brett Gardner, CF: (A) Gardner went 1-3 with a run scored and laid down a successful sac bunt in the eighth.  He also threw Melvin Mora out at home even though Posada failed to apply the tag.

Nick Swisher, PH: (B) I wasn't a fan of pinch hitting Swisher for Ransom in the eighth, but he proved me wrong with an opposite field ground-rule double to start what should have been the game-tying rally.

Ramiro Pena, PR-3B: (INC) Pena pinch ran for Swisher in the eighth but failed to score from third when Jeter grounded out to short.

CC Sabathia, SP: (F) His next start at Kansas City this weekend should be better.

Jonathan Albaladejo, RP: (B) A solid outing for the reliever who gave up two hits in 1.1 scoreless innings, while throwing 11 of his 13 pitches for strikes.

Phil Coke, RP: (D) Coke was good for the first inning-and-a-third but then surrendered a two-run homer to the light-hitting Izturis.

Brian Bruney, RP: (F) Bruney was very wild in his first appearance of the year, giving up two runs on two walks and a hit in just a third of an inning.

Damaso Marte, RP: (F) Well, at least Girardi has him in the right role this season: mop-up duty.

Yankees Overall Grade: (D+) Sabathia was terrible and the bullpen wasn't much better, but the offense fought back with a combination of homers and small ball.  The Yanks have an off day Tuesday and then need to take the final two in Baltimore because they don't want to lose the opening series of the year.