CC Sabathia's season-high for walks in a game is four. He's done it five times, most recently on September 16.

In the first inning Monday night, CC Sabathia walked three Tigers. Austin Jackson, Delmon Young and Miguel Cabrera all reached on free passes.

And yet Sabathia emerged without having allowed a run. How? Well, for one thing, he struck out Victor Martinez with a slider in the dirt. And for another, there was this:

That looks worse now than it did at the time, but Ramon Santiago swung at a first-pitch ball against a pitcher having all kinds of control problems, and grounded into a double play. That's a good way to stifle a rally.

The good news for the Tigers is that, even though they're losing 2-0, they got Sabathia's pitch count up to 28. But then, Sabathia can handle a high pitch count, and he's probably not going to struggle to find his spots for long. Chalk that half-inning up as a missed opportunity.