MLB playoffs 2018: Can ageless CC Sabathia save the New York Yankees again?

Sabathia will start Game 4 of the 2018 ALDS with the Yankees needing a victory to keep their season alive.

NEW YORK — So now the postseason hopes of the “Baby Bombers” rest on the shoulders of a pitcher who started in his first postseason game two months before teammate Gleyber Torres’ fourth birthday, a pitcher with 3,470 innings on his meaty left arm and — the Yankees can only hope — no fear about the challenge facing him now.

CC Sabathia gets the ball against the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALDS with the season hanging in the balance, after a humiliating 16-1 defeat, and if this sounds like a familiar script that’s because it is. No matter how many new toys the Yankees add to the roster, the October drama always seems to find its way to the veteran who has pretty much seen it all.

He was the one who got the ball in Game 5 of the ALDS a year ago in Cleveland, keeping the Yankees alive as they erased a two-games-to-none deficit to advance to the American League Championship Series. He was the one who carried them to the World Series in 2009, winning the ALCS MVP and cementing himself in Yankees lore.

That Sabathia is not this Sabathia. Still: The pressure isn’t about to get to him after all these years.

“I think it helps just to have an experience being out there,” Sabathia said before Game 3. “I can slow the game down. It’s all the same now. It’s not — no game is bigger than the other. So I think it helps in that way, and I’ve been in those situations a lot.”

Aaron Boone will hand him the ball, and when he does, he can only hope Sabathia will throw him a life preserver. Boone managed the worst game of his career Monday night, sending his Game 3 starter out to start the fourth inning when everyone in the Bronx could see Luis Severino was done.

Boston exploded for seven runs and turned a hopeful night into one of the worst postseason losses in the history of this franchise. If there’s one saving grace, it’s that Boone managed to keep his most important reliever out of the game in this bloodbath — catcher Austin Romine even pitched the ninth — which should mean that Sabathia will have a short leash on Tuesday night.

Not that the big guy cares.

“We know how good our bullpen is, but in my mind, I start the game to finish the game,” he said. “That’s just how I am. Obviously, that (doesn’t) happen a lot for me anymore, but my mindset hasn’t changed at all from when I was younger. I just try to go out and pitch as long as I can.”

Boone’s blunders doom Yankees in Game 3

He meant that in the short term, but on Monday, he made it clear that this is his approach in the longterm, too. A faulty knee nearly caused him to retire last summer, but the 38-year-old wants to pitch again next season — and doesn’t care if it’s in the Bronx or not.

It seems likely that the Yankees will do exactly what they did last season and sign him to a one-year deal. Boone was practically acting as his longest-tenured player’s agent when asked if he believed that Sabathia still had enough left in the tank.

“There’s no question, to me, that he can pitch for more than just next year if he wants to,” Boone said. “As long as his knee’s healthy, I think he can be a successful pitcher for actually many more years if he really wants to. I think he’s still that good and capable.”

The Yankees aren’t worried about four more good years from Sabathia. Right now, they just need four good innings. They need Sabathia to hold these suddenly red-hot Red Sox bats in check long enough for Boone to bring in Dellin Betances, Zach Britton, Aroldis Chapman and anyone else who can get this series back to Fenway Park.

They are one loss away from this 100-win season fading into oblivion and need to rebound from a humiliating loss at the hands of their hated rivals. That’s a lot of pressure for anyone to take to the mound, but at least they know their old starter is no stranger to challenges.

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