C is for Clinched

In most cases, C is not exactly what people shoot for. But for the Yankees, C has been magic letter this season, no more so than during Saturday's 3-0 win over the Red Sox.

C.C. Sabathia, a man so big he gets two C's, was at his best, baffling the Boston hitters throughout seven innings of one-hit shutout ball. The Yanks' ace has been virtually unhittable of late, going 9-0 with a 2.04 ERA in his last 11 starts. Overall, the big guy has compiled a 19-7 record and has an outside shot at his second Cy Young award. After the game, manager Joe Girardi confirmed the obvious -- C.C. will start Game 1 of the divisional series for the Bombers.

It's arguable that not since the halcyon days of Andy Pettitte, before the elbow injury and the HGH and the shipping off to Houston, have the Yanks had such a bona fide ace. And no, I'm not forgetting Roger Clemens. I'm just discounting all of his postseason performances after 2001 because they were so inconsistent. We've long since past the point of argument that C.C. is worth every penny of his seven-year, $161 million contract, so I'll go one step further: There is no pitcher on an AL contending team as good as C.C. Sabathia.

As if that weren't enough Cs, the Yankees got their offensive jump start on Saturday from Robinson Cano, who broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with an opposite-field home run off Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. The longball gave Cano 100 runs and 199 hits on the season, and with a single on Sunday the second baseman reached 200 hits in a season for the first time in his career.

The Yankees didn't pick up Johan Santana or Roy Halladay in recent years because they weren't willing to part with Cano, despite his lackadaisical attitude on the field and his inability to draw a walk. Kudos to GM Brian Cashman, because the Yanks ended up getting an ace anyway in Sabathia, and Cano has become one of the best second basemen in the game.

Some good C's indeed. Oh, and with their 4-2 win over Boston on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep, the Yanks added two more pretty nice C's: Clinched the AL East for the first time since 2006 and clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

That's 100 wins, nine straight victories against the Red Sox, the first AL East crown in three years, and the first playoff appearance in two years. For the Yankees, a lot of C's have added up to an A+ of a regular season.