MIL Journal-Sentinel: Some initial success

“I don’t think anybody realizes how hard it was, what [Sabathia] just did,” said reliever David Riske, a former teammate in Cleveland. “He had been a Cleveland Indian since he was 17 years old. To come in here and get used to a new team, new guys, and want to impress them. That’s pretty tough.”

The sellout crowd of 42,533 - a gate spurred by the signing of the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner - made Sabathia feel welcome with a Miller Park-record number of standing ovations. He admitted to being nervous in the first inning, when he worked around a pair of walks.

“I was trying to overthrow, do too much,” he said. “I had a bunch of emotions going through my head. The fans brought electricity to the stadium. It got me a little too excited. That was the reason I was so erratic.”

Known for pounding the strike zone, Sabathia issued five walks during a laborious six-inning stint, during which he threw only 57 of 97 pitches for strikes. He also allowed five hits and struck out five before departing with a 4-3 lead.
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Riske, Eric Gagné and Brian Shouse each turned in a scoreless frame, and the offense tacked on three runs in the seventh to make things easier.

MIL Journal-Sentinel: New ace Sabathia creates ballpark buzz