Taillon delivers for his 1st win in 2 years
NEW YORK — It took longer than he had hoped, but Jameson Taillon was just happy to be back in the win column. Two years ago to the day, he left the mound in Arlington with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and a win. It took Tommy John surgery, his second, and over a year and a half of rehab wondering if he would ever get back there.
But Saturday, Taillon pitched five solid innings and the Yankees offense backed him up as they beat the Tigers 6-4 at the Stadium. The 29-yearold had his first win since May 1, 2019.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure whether I’d ever be back in a big league uniform, and let alone to be on a team like the Yankees and to contribute to wins throughout the year,” Taillon said. “So it’s definitely meaningful. There’s a lot of people that played a part in it to get me back to this point. And now I’m looking forward to just putting my head down and knocking out more starts.”
It was the Yankees (13-14) second straight win and their first this season when the offense did not hit a home run. Instead, Aaron Judge drove in three runs with a double and two singles. Gleyber Torres, who is still homerless this season, drove in three on two hits.
That clinched the third series win for the Yankees this season.
But Saturday was all about Taillon and his journey here.
“He was the Player of the Game for us today going out there throwing five, holding them to one run. Now, that was a special moment,” Judge said. “Whenever you have a big injury like that, Tommy John, it probably creeps in the back of some guy’s mind that this might be the last time I ever throw, ‘what’s my career gonna look like?’ But he’s a guy that through all of it stays positive and continues to work, work, work. It’s really showing right now.
“I know, he’s just only been a couple of games with us. But I’m excited to see what he does the rest of this year and beyond.”
Taillon picked up his first win allowing one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out eight. It was a much cleaner line than May 1, 2019, when he allowed four runs, three earned, as the Pirates beat the Rangers.
Taillon got through five innings, but had to fight at the end.
The right-hander cruised through the first four, picking up Clint Frazier after an error on the first play of the game and working around a walk in the
second. As he flipped the lineup, things got more interesting. He gave up a two-out solo home run to Jeimer Candelario in the fourth and the Tigers started timing him up in the fifth.
He got lucky when Jacoby Jones’ liner to the left hit Niko Goodrum on the foot as he advanced to third for an automatic out. He walked two to load the bases and had to face Miguel Cabrera. He got to 2-2 on the Tigers’ slugger and then blew a high fastball by him at 94-mph to get out of the inning.
“I told myself, let’s just slow this down. Let’s make one pitch at a time. And yeah, I mean, Miggy’s one of the best hitters of our generation, if not the best.
And no matter what stage of his career he’s at, I have a ton of respect for a guy like that standing in the box,” Taillon said of facing Cabrera in that spot. “So that made that moment that much bigger to be able to get him there because he’s come up big in a lot of spots over the years. So that was a good challenge for me.”
Taillon ran off the mound screaming into his glove after that hard-fought inning. The Yankees may not have been there through the entire journey with Taillon, but they appreciate it.
“He’s amazing,” Torres said. “He is, to me, an inspiration. He passed the situation and he is continuing and he shows us what he can do. I feel like it’s really great. I mean, I’m so happy for him.”