Music for gametime: Stuck between stations, The Hold Steady.

This post was written while the game was in progress.

• The Yankees southpaw notches his fifth strikeout today, against Ricky Weeks.

Let’s take a look at CC’s numbers with the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he played last in 2008 as a member of the National League Central team.

In 2008, the Brewers finished second in the NL Central, with a 90-72 record.

• With the bases loaded and two outs, his highness Prince Fielder steps up to bat. With three breaking balls, CC gets him swinging.

That year in the NLDS, they lost in four games to the Phillies, who went on to compete — sigh, and win — the World Series.

CC is listed as a top player in 2008 with a WAR of 3.8, and he spent time with two teams — oh wow guess who the Cleveland Indians, then Milwaukee.

• That’s a one-two-three inning for CC as we head into the bottom of the fourth.

With the Brewers, CC started 17 games, posting an 11-2 record with a 1.65 ERA and a 1.003 WHIP. Ridiculous numbers, putting him in fifth to win the Cy Young Award — which he did the year before anyway, so no biggie.

Let’s fastforward, though, to his time with New York.

• Through five innings, Sabathia has walked two and STRUCK OUT NINE, allowing just three hits. No runs.

The lefty joined New York in 2009, finishing 19-8 — the next year he’d record a career-high 21 wins, in 34 starts — striking out 197 to 67 walks.

Also that year, he made his way to the World Series, though he once again dropped a game to the Phillies.

In the NLDS, the Phillies won Game 2, 5-2, chasing Sabathia after just 3.2 innings. In 2009, Philadelphia took the first game of the series, 6-1, an outing in which Sabathia went seven innings, recording two runs on four hits with six strikeouts. He got the loss, although the bullpen (a Hughes-Marte-Robertson-Bruney-Coke combination) began its implosion thereabouts.

• And that’s 79 pitches for CC heading into the sixth, 49 for strikes.

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Additional reading:

“CC Sabathia is still fond of his wild ride with Brewers,” Marc Carig, Star Ledger

CC’s official website

PitCCh In foundation – “PitCCh In Foundation Inc. is dedicated to enriching the lives of inner city youth by working to raise their individual self-esteem through educational and athletic activities.”