starter in the first half of the season since David Cone in 1999. On July 26, 2011, Sabathia took a perfect game through innings against the Seattle Mariners, retiring the first 19 batters he faced in a game interrupted twice due to rain. He ended up striking out 14 batters through seven innings (setting a career high), and pitching a combined one-hitter. For his performance in July 2011 (a 4–1 record in 5 starts with a 0.92 ERA, just one home run allowed, 50 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched, and a .140 batting average against), Sabathia was named the AL Pitcher of the Month, his fifth career Pitcher of the Month award and second with the Yankees. Sabathia recorded his 2,000th career strikeout on September 10, 2011, against Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a 6–0 Yankees loss. Across 33 starts in 2011, Sabathia had a 19–8 record, a 3.00 ERA, and a 1.23 WHIP. Across innings, he struck out 230 batters against 61 walks (good for 8.72 K/9 and 3.72 K/BB ratios), held batters to a .255 batting average, threw three complete games (one shutout), posted 22 quality starts, and gave up just 17 home runs for a career-low rate of 0.64 home runs per nine innings. His 230 strikeouts marked the third-highest number of strikeouts in a single season in franchise history, the most since Ron Guidry's franchise record 248 strikeouts in 1978, and the second-most in the American League behind Justin Verlander's 250 strikeouts. Sabathia also became the first Yankee pitcher to strike out more than 200 batters in a single season since Randy Johnson in 2005, as well as the first Yankee pitcher to finish in the top two in the American League in strikeouts since Johnson did so that same year. The Yankees won the AL East once again with a 97–65 record, however, Sabathia struggled in the ALDS, posting a 6.23 ERA in innings in three appearances (two starts) as the Yankees were defeated by the Detroit Tigers in five games. Sabathia once again finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting, placing behind Verlander (who won the Cy Young, Triple Crown, and MVP awards), Jered Weaver, and Shields, as well as 14th in the MVP ballot. Though his contract with the Yankees allowed him to opt out and become a free agent after the 2011 season, Sabathia said he