Yanks beat Sox, but Sabathia fumes over Nunez bunt

NEW YORK – It was a fairly non-descript game, given the stakes for a first-place team facing the team next closest to it in the standings: CC Sabathia successfully pitched out of trouble, while Eduardo Rodriguez most assuredly did not.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.

But this being Yankees-Red Sox, there’s always something. And that something reared its head in the clubs’ respective clubhouses during post-game interviews.

As past controversies go, it wasn’t exactly Bill Lee vs. Graig Nettles, or Alex Rodriguez vs. Jason Varitek. Those were different times.

So, instead, there were bruised feelings over….a bunt attempt.

Sabathia, who improved to 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox this season, didn’t care for Eduardo Nunez’s decision to bunt against Sabathia in the first inning. Nunez reached when the pitcher's throw to first was wild. Sabathia has been battling a balky knee and recently spent time on the DL because of it.

The Sox bunted twice against him when the two teams met at Fenway two weeks ago and Sabathia was miffed. On Thursday night, his displeasure was more obvious and pointed.

“I’m an old man,’’ said Sabathia, “so they should go out and want to kick my butt. I just felt like they tried to take the weak road…It shows what they’ve got over there.’’

Nunez, who, ironically was thrown at in Cleveland last week for swinging too hard, now found himself defending his decision to square around. But he didn’t back down.

“That’s not my problem,’’ said Nunez when informed of Sabathia’s comments. “I have to play my game. We don’t have any guys with 30 home runs or 100 RBI, so we play smart with the little game. We have to work, we have to bunt, we have to hustle – that’s our game.’’

Nunez and Sabathia were once teammates with the Yankees and Nunez maintained that the two “have a good relationship.’’ Sabathia also said Nunez apologized to him later in the game for bunting in the first, which Nunez confirmed – with a qualification.

"I said, 'I’m sorry, but I have to do it – it’s my game,'" Nunez said. “I know he has a bad knee. I feel bad. But if I have to (bunt) twice, I have to do it. That’s my game, that’s my job, that’s my team. If I have to bunt four times in a row, I’ll do it. I don’t care if he’s mad or not. It’s what it is. You have to compete and figure it out.’’

Asked if he would bunt against Sabathia the next time, Nunez was unequivocal in his response.

“One hundred percent – yes,’’ Nunez said. “Play in. Or field the bunt, I don’t care. People know he was on the DL for the knee, so he doesn’t want people bunting. As I said, that’s not my problem.  That’s my game. I don’t have any power. It’s not my fault. What am I going to do?’’

The more he spoke, the more defiant Nunez became.

“I don’t care if they get mad at me,’’ he said, “If they hit me, I’ll be on base, so Mookie can drive me in for an RBI.’’

Sabathia, for his part, was hardly in a conciliatory mood, either.

“I don’t give a (expletive) about their reaction,” said Sabathia. “I don’t really care what they have to say. I’m out there early every day. If they have something to say, we can meet in center field.”

As petty as the back-and-forth on a first-inning bunt may have been, it was more interesting than anything that took place in the game.

The Red Sox again failed to take advantage of some opportunities. In the aforementioned first, they loaded the bases with one out, only to have an overly passive Xander Bogaerts take three strikes without lifting the bat off his shoulders. Sabathia then baited rookie Rafael Devers to swing at a 3-and-2 offering way out of the strike zone.

For the night, the Sox were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position; for the season, they’re a woeful 19-for-123 (.154) against the Yankees in such situations.

Meanwhile, there was the Sabathia-Nunez sideshow. With just three games remaining between the teams, Sabathia won’t pitch against the Sox again this season, and Nunez could be gone this winter as a free agent.

Unless, of course, the teams meet in the postseason, with memories and outrage still fresh in their minds.