CC Sabathia was ejected on Thursday from what will be his final start of the regular season, and the left-hander may have cost himself a massive bonus in the process.
Sabathia entered the game between the Yankees and Rays with 148 innings pitched on the year. His contract for 2018 has an incentive that would have paid him $500,000 if he pitched 155 innings, so he needed to get through seven innings to secure the bonus. He never got there, as he was ejected in the bottom of the sixth for plunking Rays catcher Jesus Sucre in the leg.
Tensions getting high as CC Sabathia is ejected after hitting a batter.
(via @FOXSportsFL) #Yankees #Rays pic.twitter.com/c5CdMDFV41 /@MLBONFOX
— Jay Betsill (@TheFamousJay) September 27, 2018
The pitch came after Tampa reliever Andrew Kittredge threw a ball behind Yankees catcher Austin Romine’s head, which inspired the home plate umpire to warn both sides. Sabathia was seen yelling in Kittredge’s direction after the pitch behind Romine, and the 38-year-old hit Sucre with the very first pitch in the next frame. As you can see near the end of the video above, Sabathia appeared to yell, “That’s for you, b—c,” at Kittredge as he left the field.
The Yankees are still unsure of how they are going to proceed in the AL wild-card game and potentially beyond, but they have to love seeing that kind of fire from Sabathia. Perhaps they’ll give him the $500,000 bonus, anyway.
