Bombers prevail after Chappy's epic showdown
TORONTO — The music — “2 Dollar Bill,” by 2 Chainz — sounded louder than usual, as did high-energy reliever Tommy Kahnle, while the Yankees dressed and packed their belongings in the snug Rogers Centre visitors’ clubhouse.
All wins produce a soundtrack, as per the mandate of DJ Aaron Judge. This one, however, a 1-0 blanking of the Blue Jays to stop a two-game losing streak, created more energy, more excitement than usual. And for all that Masahiro Tanaka did to make this result possible, it’s what he couldn’t quite do, ultimately, that led to the party-type atmosphere.
The Yankees posted a 5-2 record on their tour of the American League East’s dregs because they survived an epic, 13-pitch, ninth-inning battle between their All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman and the Blue Jays’ future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and lived to tell the tale.
“I think there was probably a little more energy than normal based on how that inning unfolded,” Aaron Boone acknowledged. “So it was a good way to finish off a trip after a couple of losses”
“Any time you’re able to get a guy out, get a double play when you need it, it’s going to feel great,” Chapman said through an interpreter.
They return home for four games against the dreadful Orioles, the team they swept in Baltimore on the first leg of this trip, and their pitching staff looks to be in reasonably good shape for Monday’s day-night doubleheader, thanks
to Tanaka’s
brilliant eight-plus innings in which he permitted only three hits while walking none and striking out four.
Let’s talk about that “plus” in the “eight-plus” innings. With only 91 pitches on Tanaka’s ledger, Boone afforded his right-hander the chance to record a complete-game shutout, only to yank him when former Yankee Brandon Drury led off with a ground-ball single to left field.
In came Chapman, who hadn’t pitched since Monday, put in the atypical spot of having to put out a fire with the tying run on first.
“[I] threw him in in about as tough a spot as you can, giving him a base runner to start and no margin for error, really,” Boone said.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo responded by pinch hitting Guerrero for catcher Reese McGuire.
Chapman hadn’t yet faced Guerrero, who made his major league debut earlier this season (and who, OK, isn’t a guaranteed Hall of Famer quite yet). On June 26, 2011, Chapman, while with the Reds, struck out Junior’s dad, Vladimir Guerrero, then with the Orioles, amidst the actual Hall of Famer’s final season.
“In a very well played, 1-0 game, you’ve got a young rising, great-looking hitter against the game’s dominant closer,” said Boone, speaking like the broadcaster he once was. “It was a great kind of match to watch those two guys go at it.”
Guerrero swung through the first two pitches, both fastballs, putting him in a quick hole.
“That was the strategy early in the atbat, go up and in,” Chapman said.
A foul on a sinker slightly out of the strike zone followed, and then came ball one, low. Guerrero fouled off three pitches, took ball two, fouled off two more, took ball three and fouled again. That gave the duel 13 pitches, eight of them fastballs — five of those 100 miles per hour or faster — and four sliders.
Asked what he was thinking as he worked with Chapman from behind the plate, Austin Romine said, “Man, this is a good at-bat. I mean, to come off the bench like that, and to hit off Chappy throwing 100 [mph], and to foul off some really good sliders down and in. ... But Chappy made a really good pitch, the last one. Two-seam down.”
“I tried to pitch him up and out and eventually just ended getting him out with low and inside,” Chapman said.
Guerrero hit it right at shortstop Gleyber Torres, who started the 6-4-3 twin-killing — and the crowd saluted its stud rookie with a standing ovation, despite the bad outcome. After Bo Bichette, another legacy, singled, the Jays’ third such son of a major leaguer, Cavan Biggio, whiffed on a Chapman slider to get the Yankees’ party started.
The Yankees’ bats largely took the weekend off, and Judge in particular still looks nowhere close to right. Those concerns alleviated temporarily, though, thanks to an old-fashioned showdown. No matter how much the game evolves, prevailing in a battle like that still makes you feel pretty great.
TORONTO — Gleyber Torres returned to the lineup Sunday at shortstop when Didi Gregorius was given the day off against the Blue Jays.
Torres missed the previous four games with what the Yankees are calling a core issue.
“I don’t know exactly what the terminology is,’’ Aaron Boone said of his All-Star second baseman, who went for tests in New York last Sunday and again Wednesday. “He is having a core issue.’’
Torres went 0-for-3 and was involved in two double plays the Yankees turned in the eighth and ninth innings.
“Couple of big plays in the field and I thought he got off a couple of good swings, the one he flew out to right and a runner on second and getting that guy over. I felt like he just missed clipping that ball,’’ Boone said. “Checking on him in the middle of the game he said he was good, so hopefully that’s the first step of him getting back into the fold.’’
Twenty-seven and growing.
That describes the Yankees’ injured list after placing lefty reliever Stephen Tarpley on the 10-day IL with an impingement in his elbow a day after he worked 2 ¹/3 innings against the Blue Jays and threw 57 pitches.
“I don’t know how it happened, it is not one pitch,’’ Tarpley said. “A couple of pitches didn’t feel right.’’
Tarpley underwent X-rays on Saturday and could undergo further testing Monday when the Yankees play the Orioles in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
“The X-rays didn’t show too much. I will have more news Tuesday,’’ said Tarpley, who didn’t think throwing 51 pitches in Baltimore on Tuesday and 57 Saturday was the reason for the problem.
Sunday was the second straight day the Yankees put a reliever on the shelf after Jonathan Holder went on the IL on Saturday with an inflamed right shoulder.
According to Boone, Tarpley wanted to stay away from the IL but with a doubleheader on Monday and the Yankees using a reliever to start one of the games, the Yankees decided to disable Tarpley.
They promoted righthander Brady Lail and lefty Joe Mantiply from Triple-A Scranton/WilkesBarre and optioned infielder Breyvic Valera to SWB. That left Boone with a twoman bench of Gregorius and Cameron Maybin for Sunday’s game.
“[Tarpley] actually wanted to stay off [the IL]. With our situation he was going to be down a few days. We are playing it a little cautious here,’’ Boone said.
Barring any further problems with his right knee, CC Sabathia will rejoin the Yankees rotation this week during a fourgame series against the Indians that begins Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
Sabathia, who has been on the IL since July 28, threw a bullpen session before Sunday’s game which went well.
“He will probably throw another bullpen on Tuesday and if that goes well [he’ll be activated] sometime in the series against Cleveland,’’ Boone said.
Dellin Betances and Luis Severino are scheduled to throw bullpen sessions Monday at Yankee Stadium.