BOSTON -- After 17 seasons, CC Sabathia was ready to never pitch again.

When Sabathia had to leave his Aug. 8 start in Toronto with right knee pain, the 37-year-old feared the worst and was prepared to retire, he said before Friday's game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

"Because it hurt," he said. "It's just not worth it."

Instead, things worked out for Sabathia and his balky knee, which has a degenerative condition that's been threatening his career since 2014.

Doctors discovered no new damage, gave him a couple of shots and sent him home.

Now, Sabathia is scheduled to make his first start since the incident Saturday against Boston, in the thick of a division race.

Sabathia explained why he had come to grips with the idea that his career could have been over that night.

"I could go out there and I could throw four innings and hurt and pitch -- like I keep saying, I've pitched for a long time now. I'm not doing this for the money or anything like that," he said. "I'm doing this for fun and to try to win a championship and if I can't have fun and help this team win, then there's no reason for me to be out there."

The Yankees need Sabathia. The left-hander has been one of the team's most consistent starters, going 9-5 with a 4.05 ERA.

On Saturday, he said, he won't have a pitch limit for himself.

"As long as they want," Sabathia said. "Like I said, my arm feels good, the knee feels stable. As long as they want me to go."

As for the future, Sabathia doesn't know what's in store.

Doctors haven't given him any assurances the pain won't come surging back. He added that he hopes he won't need an offseason procedure to clean up the knee, "but that's been the trend lately with me."

And he might knee a new knee when he actually does retire.

"I'll probably get a knee replacement at some point," Sabathia said. "I've talked to enough people where I feel comfortable enough to where I"ll just be playing golf and hanging out with my kids when I'm done. So I won't need it to be that great, I guess."

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.