The Great CC: Not So Great Tonight

So, what are we to make of Brewers ace CC Sabathia tonight? The ugly pitching line: 3 2/3 innings, six hits, five earned runs, four walks (one intentional), five strikeouts, one home run. The home run was monumental, a grand slam by Shane Victorino in the second inning, which left the score where it is as I write this this -- 5-1 Phillies, in the top of the seventh.

Sabathia did this last year, remember, or at least something similar. He came into the postseason on the heels of a Cy Young-winning regular season, then made three poor postseason starts for the Indians (one of which nonetheless resulted in a win).

So what's the deal? Is he a big-game choker? (Doubtful, unless you think a nine-inning, four-hit complete game on the season's final day, with the Brewers trying to clinch the wild card, is something a choker would do.)

Did he finally succumb to the mounting toll of making four straight starts on three days' rest? Rest assured, that question will be asked (over and over and over) after the game.

Or is this just one of those inexplicable baseball things, where a tight strike zone (or something else) leads to one too-fine pitch that results in a base hit, and a whole string of inter-related events that, taken together, result in Shane Victorino coming to the plate with the bases loaded and Sabathia hanging a slider? If Victorino misses that mistake, Sabathia might still be on the mound and the Brewers' season might still be alive.

Right now, it seems quite dead, and there doesn't seem to be much chance we will ever see Sabathia throw another pitch in a Brewers' uniform.