Yanks following Sabathia’s lead

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The story of the American League Championship Series so far has been -- pick one -- the dominating pitching of Yankee left-hander CC Sabathia, who has held the Angels to two runs in 18 innings in a pair of wins, or the offensive performance of Alex Rodriguez, who is batting .375 with five runs, five RBIs and home runs in three consecutive games.

‘Well, there is no questioning what he’s meant to that Yankee lineup,’ Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said of Rodriguez, who was pretty much a nonfactor in five previous postseason series with New York before this year. ‘He’s as good as anybody has performed up to this point at any playoff. He’s doing everything for those guys.’

But Scioscia says, despite that, Sabathia has had a bigger impact on the best-of-seven series, which the Yankees lead 3-1.

‘I don’t know if Alex is as much of a difference-maker as what we saw from Sabathia,’ he said.

And that may carry over to Game 5 tonight because Yankee starter A.J. Burnett says he takes extra motivation out of every Sabathia start.

‘It seems like every night he throws I give him a hug and say, ‘Man, you just inspired me to go tomorrow,’’ Burnett said. ‘He’s a horse. You know, he throws eight innings every time out. And he sets the tone. It makes you go harder.’

-- Kevin Baxter