MILWAUKEE (AP) - CC Sabathia is determined to stay positive while he figures out where things have gone wrong.
He’s got five days to make any fixes before the New York Yankees lefty gets back on the mound for the Subway Series.
Sabathia allowed three homers Saturday night, including an upper-deck solo shot by Carlos Gomez, and Rickie Weeks hit a two-out RBI single in the seventh to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-4 win over New York.
Jonathan Lucroy hit a two-run homer in the third and Aramis Ramirez followed with a solo shot off Sabathia, who gave up eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander yielded at least four runs in a game for the sixth time this year.
“I’m not going to sit here and kill myself and be negative. I’m just not doing that this year. So we will go from there, and I’ll be out there five days from now ready to go,” he said.
That would be Thursday night at Citi Field in the Subway Series spotlight against the Mets.
The homers by Lucroy and Ramirez were unearned because they followed an error by shortstop Brendan Ryan with two outs. Ryan got the start with Derek Jeter getting a day off.
“In the past maybe he got away with a few more mistakes, but right now he is not getting away with them,” manager Joe Giradi said. “That is the thing about pitching, it can happen quick.”
Francisco Rodriguez earned his league-leading 15th save to help the Brewers end a three-game skid. The veteran closer hasn’t allowed a run in 19 appearances this season.
It wouldn’t have happened without Weeks’ chopper skipping through the hole into left in the seventh off Alfredo Aceves (0-1), who was called for a balk two pitches earlier that allowed Lucroy to move to third.
Zach Duke (3-0) got the win after escaping a seventh-inning jam by getting Carlos Beltran to bounce into a double play.
Still, the Yankees rallied from a two-run deficit on Mark Teixiera’s solo shot in the sixth and pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano’s RBI single off Duke that tied the game at 4 an inning later.
That put runners on first and second for the power-hitting Beltran. But Duke got him to bounce into the inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play.
Weeks came through in the bottom of the seventh for his first RBI of the season. His helmet flew off his head as he raced toward first on the single, and he pointed to the dugout as the crowd showered him with cheers.
“Rick was good again. He has been swinging the bat a lot better,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “Nice to have somebody come through with that big hit.”
Rodriguez got three flyouts in the ninth, though the outs by Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson made the hometown fans nervous after sailing close to the wall.
Sabathia only wished he was that lucky in his first start at Miller Park since Sept. 28, 2008. With the Brewers after a midseason trade from Cleveland, Sabathia tossed a complete-game victory against the Cubs to clinch the NL wild card.
Gomez gave Sabathia a rude welcome back leading off the bottom of the first after sending a 1-1 pitch high over the left-field fence. The ball caromed off the window of a restaurant filled with spectators dining in the third deck.
“Just keep battling, trying to get better and go from there,” Sabathia said.
NOTES: Ramirez left the game in the fourth with a strained left hamstring after fielding a bouncer. … Roenicke said RF Ryan Braun (right oblique strain) feels good. He is eligible to come off the disabled list in time for the start of a three-game series Tuesday against Pittsburgh. “Still not probably there, so we are (hopeful) for Tuesday but I’m not sure,” Roenicke said. “Maybe there is a little bit of tightness but it is not really bothering him.” Braun took full cuts at batting practice Saturday, including a homer to dead center. … The Yankees send David Phelps (0-0) to the hill Sunday afternoon against the Brewers’ Matt Garza (2-3) to wrap up the three-game series. Jeter will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
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