updated 9:45 p.m. ET June 24, 2009

ATLANTA - New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia threw in the bullpen before Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Braves and said he’ll be ready to start the opener of a weekend series against the New York Mets.

Sabathia threw 27 pitches after leaving his last start with tightness in his left biceps.

“I’m good,” he said. “I threw all of my pitches. I’m looking forward to pitching on Friday,” when the Yankees open an interleague series against their New York rivals.

Sabathia, who is 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA, left last Sunday’s game against Florida in the second inning, and manager Joe Girardi was worried the left-hander wouldn’t be able to make his next scheduled start.

“I guess everybody else made me nervous the last couple days,” Sabathia said. “I kind of felt like I’d be able to pitch.”

After pitching last season in Cleveland and Milwaukee, Sabathia signed a $161 million, seven-year contract with the Yankees. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007.

New York went into Wednesday’s contest with a three-game losing streak and trailing first-place Boston by five games in the AL East.

Sabathia isn’t concerned.

“Just some ups and down,” he said. “When we pitch, we don’t really hit. When we hit, we don’t pitch. It’s just a combination of putting it together. This is a good baseball team, it’s just getting it started from the first inning.”

Meanwhile, left fielder Johnny Damon returned to the Yankees lineup after missing the opener of the series in Atlanta with a sore right calf. He was hurt over the weekend while tracking down a flyball against Florida.

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