That Damn 6th Inning

(Courtesy of the AP)

I obviously didn't get to the recap of last night's game this morning, but there's really only 1 thing you need to know about it and that's the 6th inning.  CC Sabathia was absolutely dominant from the 1st through the 5th and equally so in the 7th.  It was vintage CC, more than good enough to carry an offense that only gave him 1 run of support.  But just like his last time out, it all fell apart for him in the 6th.

It started with a Jonny Gomes leadoff home run on a misplaced 4-seamer.  It continued with a pair of GB singles.  It ended with a Grady Sizemore 3-run shot to right on a misplaced slider.  2 bad pitches to make 1 bad inning and that was that.

Other than the 6th, CC looked great.  He was locating his fastball, his sinker had great movement, and he was getting a ton of swings and misses on his slider.  He looks like a much better pitcher than he was last year, much more comfortable with what he's doing out there.  But these bad innings are absolutely ruining his outings and making his stat line look much worse than it rightfully should be.  It's something CC either has to figure out or it's something we have to learn to live with now that he's reached his mid-30s.