YANKEES PEN COUGHS UP ANOTHER ONE:
Aaron better get ready to get slammed after slam
TORONTO — And Boone goes the dynamite, for the first time as manager of the Yankees. The second-guessing of Joe Girardi’s replacement holding the pinstriped binder started immediately on Sunday, even before the supposed biggest strength of this loaded team — its bullpen — completely imploded for the second consecutive day, with David Robertson surrendering a go-behind grand slam to Justin Smoak in the eighth inning of a gut-punching 7-4 loss to the Blue Jays.
Before anyone starts thinking about chanting that it’s already time for Aaron Boone to go — or about flying a plane pulling a banner saying as much — during Monday’s home opener festivities in the Bronx, however, know that Robertson insisted afterward that his manager presented him the choice of facing ailing former AL MVP Josh Donaldson or Smoak — who wore out Yankees pitching all weekend — in that inning.
The veteran reliever chose to issue the intentional walk to Donaldson to load the bases and go after Smoak. Smoak ’em if ya got ’em. “(Boone) looked at me and gave me the option. It’s on me,” Robertson said before disappearing into the showers area after the game. “It’s all on me.”
Even if completely true, this undoubtedly was the first true questionable decision Boone had to answer for since his surprise ascension to the manager’s seat, despite no experience in that job at any level.
If everyone crushed Terry Collins for allowing Matt Harvey to dictate his decision-making process in the 2015 World Series, Boone is fair game here, too. Fully.
At least he certainly handled the questioning with conviction and without getting defensive in explaining his reasoning despite the latter innings blowing up in his face.
“It was the matchup that we determined we prefer with Robbie,” Boone reasoned. “We liked him better against Smoak and I think he felt better with that matchup. You have to tip your cap, Smoak worked a heck of an at-bat, fouled off some really tough pitches and then finally got one and he ends up having a huge day against us, obviously. We were comfortable with the matchup, but didn’t get it done today.
“But it’s not just on a whim. That was the matchup we wanted.”
Honestly, I and many others in the press box and on Twitter said before the intentional pass was issued that taking their chances with Donaldson in that situation — especially after Smoak had previously smoked his first homer of the day one inning ear- lier against Tommy Kahnle to draw the Jays within one run — seemed to be the wiser play.
And that’s even despite knowing that Robertson had posted much better results in his career against Smoak (0-for-5 with four strikeouts) than he had vs. Donaldson (3-for-8 with two home runs).
“I don’t get caught up too much in last at-bat, two at-bats ago, or even recent small history,” Boone said. “That’s definitely part of it and you’re reading swings and how guys are doing and stuff like that.
“But you’re trying to match up skill-set with skill-set. Robbie’s breaking ball we feel like is a good matchup for Smoak there. To Smoak’s credit he spoiled some tough ones … He finally got a fastball that he took advantage of, but we liked the matchup, as much as we can against a really good hitter.”
Boone added that Aroldis Chapman wasn’t available for a lefty-lefty battle with Smoak in that spot, saying about his closer “not more than three (outs) right now for Chap,” who had finished each of the first two games of the series.
Since then, however, the Yanks’ locked-and-loaded bullpen has spectacularly flushed the next two to even their record at 2-2.
Chad Green continues to dominate (10 batters faced, one hit, seven strikeouts this weekend), but Dellin Betances also melted down again in Saturday’s eighth inning, coughing up his second homer in as many appearances to snap a 3-3 tie and then failing to hold Kevin Pillar, who swiped second, third and home for the final run. “It’s gonna be a strength, I am confident in that,” Boone said of his bullpen. “Everything is a little bit magnified, obviously, in the early days, good and bad. I’m really comfortable over time that those guys will continue to do their thing and it will continue to not just be a strength, but I think an overwhelming strength for this club.”
A high-wire outing by starter Sonny Gray left 15 outs for the bullpen, and the lineup couldn’t add on to an early 4-1 lead after the first Yankee homer from Brandon Drury — whose signature radio call from John Sterling, by the way, was in English and a fairly straightforward and predictable “Aaron is the Judge, but Brandon is the Drury!” — capped a four-run third against Toronto starter Marcus Stroman.
Fast forward to the eighth, and Robertson was tagged for a single by Russell Martin and a double by Aledmys Diaz, before making eye contact with Boone and pitching coach Larry Rothschild in the dugout after recording the second out of the inning.
After walking Donaldson, Robertson simply couldn’t put away Smoak, who fouled off three straight full-count breaking balls before clobbering a 93-mph heater over the wall in center for a 7-4 game.
“I threw him some really good pitches. He just kept fouling them off and stayed on me,” Robertson said. “I thought I could get a fastball by him. I didn’t think I could really throw him another curveball. He’d already seen too many of them, and those were probably the best I had at that time. He’s a good hitter. I got him out a lot in the past, but he got me today. It’s frustrating. I was one pitch away and I didn’t get it done.
“I threw everything I had at him. But he got me today. I blew it today.”
Even if most of the second-guessing still was and will be directed at Boone. That’s simply the unforgiving nature of his new gig, like it or not.