"oe Girardi came out to the mound in the eighth inning last night, not to take the ball from CC Sabathia with the tying run on second, but to encourage him.

"It's your game," the Yankees manager told Sabathia. "Let's go."

Normally, it's the type of situation Sabathia thrives in, especially this time of year.

But this time, he gave up his third hit of the night to Scott Sizemore, and it was a game-tying double that played a large role in the Yankees' 6-4 loss to the Athletics in 10 innings at Yankee Stadium.

When Sizemore scored after David Robertson came in, Sabathia stood to lose for the third time in four games.

"Tonight was totally my fault," said Sabathia, who gave up three runs in 7 1/3 innings.

That's probably an overstatement, because the offense, as Derek Jeter pointed out, had plenty of chances to score more runs. Though Rafael Soriano didn't help matters by giving up a three-run shot to Coco Crisp in the 10th.

Mark Teixeira's homer in the bottom of the eighth made sure Sabathia didn't get the loss, but Sabathia (17-7) has not been the dominant pitcher he had been in August of his first two years in The Bronx."