Can He Still C.C. The Strike Zone?

C.C. Sabathia walked 36 hitters unintentionally in 241 innings pitched in his 34 regular season starts this year. In other words, he recorded an average of 19.5 outs between every walk.

In his 2 playoff starts, he has walked 9 hitters unintentionally in 9 1/3 innings pitched. In other words, he is recording an average of 3.1 outs between every postseason walk.

Sabathia says he wasn't himself last night in Cleveland's 10-3 Game 1 ALCS loss. He walked 5 (1 intentionally) and gave up 8 earned in 4 1/3.

"I was shaking off pitches and not doing things and not being aggressive and not challenging guys and trying to be too much of a finesse pitcher," said the 6'7'' 290 pound lefty who throws in the high-90s.

Right now, his next chance to be aggressive will be 5 days from now, in Game 5. But if the Indians can't figure out how to retire David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (they combined to reach base all 10 times they were up, including a double, 3 singles, 5 walks, and a hit-by-pitch in Game 1), the Tribe might not be around that long.