GRAND PLAN!
Yankees show winning formula as Gleyber hits grannie, Paxton turns it around in win over Boston
Gleyber Torres hits 1st-inning grand slam to back James Paxton’s six sharp innings in Yankees’ 4-2 win over Red Sox on Friday night at Stadium.
That was the pitcher the Yankees were looking for all along. In an almost 180-degree turnaround from last weekend, James Paxton handled the Red Sox Friday night like an ace and with the help of a Gleyber Torres grand slam, beat Boston 4-2 at the Stadium.
The Yankees (69-39) won their second straight game and third in the last six games. They took their second straight against the Red Sox (59-52), who took three out of four in Boston last weekend. With the Rays having Friday night off, the Yankees widened their lead in the American League East to 7.5 games. The knocked the Red Sox to 11.5 games back.
While the Astros added another ace to their rotation Yankees GM Brian Cashman struck out at the trade deadline. If Paxton
pitches like he did on Friday night and Luis Severino returns from a season-long injury, Cashman's swing-and-miss at the deadline could be forgotten.
“We're really confident in the guys in this room. We've also got guys coming back that'll be like making trades. We've got Severino hoping to get back before the end of the season, Dellin (Betances) as well. Giancarlo (Stanton), there's a lot of guys that are going to be coming back here and making a big difference,” Paxton said. “I think that the guys in this room can get it done. We're a talented group and very motivated. I have full confidence in the guys in this room.”
Torres certainly gave the Yankees something to look forward to. The 22-year-old hit his second grand slam of his young career — and the second of the
season. He is the third youngest Yankee to hit two grand slams in a season, behind Yogi Berra in 1947 and Mickey Mantle in ‘52, according to YES.
Torres’ grand slam in the first inning also gave Paxton a second chance.
“Huge home run by Gleyber right there, kind of injected some energy into our team and just really got us fired up,” Paxton said.
The 30-year-old lefty responded to getting shelled last weekend in Boston. He allowed a season-high seven runs on nine hits, including a career-high four home runs. Friday night was a different story. He allowed two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out six.
Paxton retired the first two batters he faced before walking Xander Bogaerts. He made a mistake with a cutter out over the plate and J.D. Martinez pulled it for a two-run homer to continue his first-inning struggles. Paxton has allowed 24 earned runs, including 11 home runs, in the first inning.
After that, he used a different mix of pitches Friday to keep the Red Sox uncomfortable. He threw his curveball more, he mixed in more changeups and relied less on his fastball. He retired eight straight and then worked around two runners in the fourth and one in the fifth. “It’s something we talked about, bringing it in a little bit more into games, slowing them down and taking them off the fastball,” Paxton said of mixing in his curveball more. “Just mixing it up a little bit.”
That’s the Paxton the Yankees had hoped they would get when they traded for him last winter. It was the type of pitcher they have been looking for all summer and couldn’t find before the trade deadline. With the Astros getting ace Zack Greinke, Cashman’s failure to land free agent lefties Patrick Corbin last winter or Dallas Keuchel in June, followed by decision to stand pat after a week in which the Yankees pitching got pummeled, looked bad. Friday, however, was a good day for the Yankees pitching.
Not only did they get a reassuring performance from Paxton, but before the game, Boone said that Luis Severino, who has been trying to come back from shoulder and lat injuries, could be on a mound within a week.
“If everything progresses like it should this week, he’ll probably be on the mound Friday when we’re in Toronto,” the Yankees manager said. “He’ll do hopefully some flat ground (work) where he’s executing some pitches and stuff.”
Even after getting over the hurdle of throwing off the mound for the first time, however, Severino would likely be at least three weeks away from being able to pitch in a MLB game.