I guess there's a chance that when CC Sabathia was in high school, he came in as a reliever in some important game. In American Legion, maybe he pitched the last five innings of a championship game, even though he'd pitched the day before. Maybe.

What we do know, though, is that for the past 13 years -- his entire professional career -- Sabathia hadn't appeared in relief until tonight. Not when he was a 17-year-old in the Appalachian League, and not when he was breaking into the majors with the Indians.

Joe Girardi brought Sabathia in as the fourth pitcher of the night, following Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, and Boone Logan. It didn't go quite as planned. Austin Jackson led off with a bloop double down the left-field line, and after two strikeouts and an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez drove Jackson in with a single up the middle.

Sabathia then got Magglio Ordonez to end the inning, but if the idea was for Sabathia to completely shut down the Tigers for a few innings, it didn't quite work.