"The Yankees have a pitching formula to win in October and despite all the fears about the back of the rotation, that formula is not built around Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.

It is constructed on the great arms of CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera; the Yankees winning when Sabathia starts and Rivera finishes and that combination providing most of the heavy lifting toward 11 postseason victories.

So as far as weeks in a season go, there hardly could be one more unsettling than this one for the Yankees. Because this was not about Phil Hughes' lost velocity or A.J. Burnett's untrustworthiness or Rafael Soriano's mindset.

The failure this week was about Sabathia starting and Rivera finishing.

Consider that before his start last Saturday at Fenway Park, Sabathia was 16-5 with a 2.55 ERA and seven homers allowed in 176 2/3 innings. Sabathia now has lost his last two starts, pitching to a 7.71 ERA with six homers allowed in 14 innings.

Consider that before his attempted close last Sunday at Fenway, Rivera had a 1.70 ERA, a .539 OPS against and had yielded one homer in 42 1/3 innings. In his last three appearances, Rivera has a 13.50 ERA, a 1.464 OPS against and two homers permitted in 2 2/3 innings."