Rasmus returns to playoffs tonight

Russell County alum Colby Rasmus returns to the playoffs for the first time in six years tonight when the Houston Astros face the New York Yankees in the American League wild-card game.

The game is set to start at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

Rasmus is projected to start in left field and bat fifth for the Astros, who clinched the second wild-card berth when the Los Angeles Angels lost on Sunday. Rasmus' younger brother, Cory, pitches for the Angels.

Colby Rasmus, 29, hit a career-high 25 homers for the Astros this season. He batted .238 and had 61 RBIs.

Rasmus played in three games in the 2009 playoffs, his rookie season, with the St. Louis Cardinals. He batted .444 (4-of-9) with three doubles and an RBI.

Rasmus signed a one-year, $8-million deal with Houston prior to the start of the season. He will became a

free agent at the end of the playoffs.

Rasmus and the Astros will be facing New York right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Rasmus has faced him one time before, going 0-for-3.

Sabathia out

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia walked into manager Joe Girardi's office in Baltimore on Sunday and made a stunning admission: He has an alcohol problem.

"The first thing he said is, 'I need help,'" Girardi said Monday during a workout at Yankee Stadium for the AL wild-card game. "I was shocked."

Sabathia surprised many in the Yankees organization by revealing his problem. And with the team's help, the burly left-hander is checking into a rehab center and will miss the postseason, a setback to the pitching staff the day before New York meets Houston in the AL wild-card game.

The team issued a statement Monday from the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, who said he took the step to receive the care he needs and become the kind of person "I can be proud of."

"I love baseball and I love my teammates like brothers, and I am also fully aware that I am leaving at a time when we should all be coming together for one last push toward the World Series," the 35-year-old Sabathia said. "It hurts me deeply to do this now, but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease, and I want to be a better man, father and player."

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Rasmus returns to playoffs tonight ."