Sabathia hopes to come off DL when eligible this weekend

NEW YORK (AP) - CC Sabathia hopes to come off the disabled list as soon as he is eligible Saturday.

The Yankees left-hander threw a bullpen session before Monday's Subway Series opener against the New York Mets and said his right knee felt much better.

"I was cutting it loose at the end," he said. "Very encouraged."

Sabathia left a start at Toronto in pain last Tuesday with knee inflammation. The following day he had cortisone, platelet rich plasma and Synvisc injections.

He threw about 30 pitches Monday and plans to throw another bullpen in a few days.

"A big difference from where I was last Tuesday," he said.

Sabathia is 9-5 with a 4.05 ERA in 19 starts. He pitches with a brace because of the knee, which was repaired with surgery in July 2014 and again last October.

Before last week, he had not had pain injections since the operation last fall. He said additional shots might be necessary this season.

With Sabathia and right-hander Masahiro Tanaka on the disabled list, right-hander Luis Cessa was recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start against the Mets on Monday and left-hander Caleb Smith was optioned to the Triple-A farm team.

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