CC Sabathia was as good–no, he was better–than expected. He was an Ace. Going into the eighth inning he’d given up just one hit. The A’s did make solid contact a few times: Eduardo Nunez made a nice snag on a line drive, Robinson Cano fielded a sharp ground ball, Curtis Granderson caught another line drive, otherwise, this was the CC of old.

Jarrod Parker, his counterpart, was just as good, almost. Granderson waved at a pitch in the dirt in the fourth inning and lifted it into left field, good for a sacrifice fly.

Alex Rodriguez had a couple of hits and Ichiro also got two more hits, including one we’re not likely to see again, a ground ball back to Parker that the pitcher fumbled down his jersey. Ichiro ran safely to first with the ball trapped inside Parker’s shirt.

The score remained 1-0 until the eighth. With a man on first and two out came an infield single before CC hit Johnny Gomes. But he got JJ Reddick to fly out to left on one pitch to escape trouble.

Rafael Soriano was not as fortunate. He got the first out in the ninth and got pinch-hitter Brandon Moss, a lefty, to foul off a slider. Paul O’Neill, on the YES broadcast, said that was a dangerous pitch to throw to a lefty but Soriano doubled-down and the next one wasn’t low enough and Moss cranked a moon shot into the right field seats. Forget the shutout, forget a “w” for CC.

Soriano got out of the inning thanks in large part to a wonderful catch by Russell Martin next to the Oakland dugout. David Robertson pitched well in the tenth which set up one of the great moments of the season.

Russell Martin got a fastball up and over the plate and he launched the 1-0 pitch into the left field seats for a home run.

Mr. Coltrane, indeed.

Final Score: Yanks 2, A’s 1.

[Photo Credit: NewY-rk; Kathy Kmonicek/AP Photo]