Schadenfreude 141 (A Continuing Series)

Peter Botte, Daily News:

CC Sabathia lost control – and another lead – in the fifth inning Friday. The night ended with the Yankees losing yet another key game with their fading – tiring, hurting? – ace on the mound.

Fill-in shortstop Eduardo Nunez also made a costly error in the ninth in a 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay at the Stadium ...

[GM Brian] acknowledged the lefty's drop in velocity – to the low-90s – in recent games.

Sabathia also has failed to hold leads in each of his five starts since his second DL stint, with the Yanks losing the last four.

John Harper, Daily News:

Every time CC Sabathia goes out and fails to dominate since returning from the disabled list, the more it feels as if the Yankees could actually blow this thing. ...

Suddenly it feels as if the Yankees are in real danger of winding up in that do-or-die game the two wild-card teams will play under the new playoff format.

What else is there to think if Sabathia is going to continue to be rather ordinary?

Dan Martin, Post:

After another subpar performance, Sabathia again said his left elbow that sidelined him last month isn't an issue.

"I'm healthy enough to go pitch," Sabathia said. ...

"I still believe in CC," the Yankees manager said. "I know his heart. ... In the back of your mind, you expect him to be CC," Girardi said.

Time is running out.

Bob Raissman, Daily News:

Mixing a concoction of sarcasm and snideness, Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman let the Red Sox have it Wednesday evening, the night after they walked off with a 4-3 win in the ninth.

"John, you would've thought they won the World Series the way they celebrated," Waldman contended on WCBS-AM.

Never mind that the Yankees have also participated in similar regular-season, ninth-inning fiestas. Never mind that her partner John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling has been known to break out in song - no matter what inning - when a certain Yankee hits a home run. ...

[T]here's something strangely compelling about Ma and Pa chronicling Yankees exploits in a legit pennant race with no wild card safety net. This is something the Bombers and all of their broadcasters are not accustomed to.

Sterling and Waldman are feeling the heat and intensity. ... Night after night, as the lead dwindled down to a precious few games, Sterling was despondent - more so than usual. ... During this stretch, it might have been prudent to put Sterling under a suicide watch.

Sterling, almost on a nightly basis, goes into a funk after an opponent takes a 2-1 or 3-1 lead. ...

Sterling's mood shifted drastically later when he broke into song after each of Curtis Granderson's two home runs. Wonder what Waldman is doing while Sterling is singing. Making sure the ball actually goes over the wall, perhaps?