In his pre-game interview session with the beat writers, Joe Girardi said there were several scenarios in which CC Sabathia could see action in tonight's decisive Game 5.

"I imagine you could get a couple of innings out of him,'' Girardi said. "You can’t tell when you might go to that move. There’s not an exact scenario. It could be where they are in the lineup. It could be some different things. If I feel I need him, I’m going to use him.''

One situation Girardi said was a possibility was bringing Sabathia in after Mariano Rivera if the game was not resolved after the Yankees' 41-year-old closer had thrown in the area of 40 pitches.

"You start to get around 35, 40 pitches you start to get into a gray area with Mo," Girardi said. "That might be a situation where you have CC behind him. It could be something like that.''

Girardi also said it was "very possible'' he might split the last three innings of the game between David Robertson and Rivera.

And it is also possible Sabathia could warm up in the bullpen and not get into the game. Today would be Sabathia's normal throw day in preparation for a Saturday start, and Girardi said in the event of a one-sided game in the Yankees favor, Sabathia might head to the bullpen to get his usual between-starts work in.