I wasn't able to see Sabathia pitch today (that pesky little thing called work was the culprit), but one quick look at his pitching line gave me a good idea as to how he did:
9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 8 SO, 0 BB, 102 Pitches (76 Strikes)
That's about as well as you can pitch. Sure, Minnesota has one of the league's worst offenses, but this level of domination still means something. His strikeout rates are spiking, his walk rates are dropping, and he's giving up less hits as well. He's only given up 2 home runs this season. Add it all up, and he's one of the best pitchers in baseball right now.
Another left-hander in the organization put up this line today:
8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB, 97 Pitches (69 Strikes)
That was Jeremy Sowers' effort today against Toledo. Now Jeremy obviously is a different type of pitcher, but all successful pitchers don't have to throw the same way. Today's start brought Sowers' ERA below 1, and increases the pressure on Jason Johnson to pitch well against Detroit this weekend.
Casey Blake is now hitting .354/.431/.614. That $3.05M salary looks like a bargain now, doesn't it? Moreover, the Indians have a $3.75M club option on him for 2007.