YANKS WIN BATTLE ROYAL
Miller time not pretty
Andrew Miller will never tell you he’s upset with losing the Yankees’ closer job to Aroldis Chapman. He’s handled the situation like a professional and truly believes his setup role is equally as vital as his previous one.
But Tuesday night was poor timing. Pitching in the eighth inning for the first time since Chapman was activated Monday from his 29-game domestic violence suspension, Miller surrendered his first run of the season. And it was a big one, as the Royals’ Lorenzo Cain deposited a game-tying solo home run into the right-field seats.
The Yankees came back to win behind a three-run eighth inning, and Chapman earned his first save in pinstripes with a scoreless ninth.
Chapman worked around a walk in a hitless ninth, retiring Cain on a game-ending popup. Twelve of his 21 pitches were at least 100 mph, making it 19 of 38 in two appearances. The Cuban lefty lit up the scoreboard for the second straight night, twice reaching 102 mph with his fastball to the oohs and ahs of fans at the Stadium.
“A lot of fans like to see triple-digit pitches, so I understand why they get excited when they see me do that,” Chapman said after the game. “I’m happy that I’m able to do that, too. It’s exciting.”
Brian McCann and Brett Gardner picked up Miller with RBI doubles in the bottom of the eighth, clearing the way for Chapman to make up for Miller’s first true hiccup of 2016.
“It’s hard to say,” Joe Girardi said when asked if it was mere coincidence that Miller surrendered his first run when he was pitching the eighth. “I think it is. But everyone’s going to look at that.”
Miller said the home run had nothing to do with the situation he was in and everything to do with a lack of sharpness. He fell behind in the count 2-1 to Cain, who hit three home runs on the night, and tried to even things up with a backdoor slider that got too much of the plate.
“There shouldn’t be (a transition). It should be the same,” Miller said after the game. “I’m out there trying to get outs, and unfortunately, I made a bad pitch and had to pay for it.
“Honestly, I’m just focused on the hitters. I’m trying as much (as I can) to concentrate on that.”
After throwing 38 pitches over the last two days, Chapman will likely be unavailable for Wednesday’s series finale. Miller and Dellin Betances will be ready. “That’s the luxury of this,” Girardi said. “If you can have two of the three guys every night, you feel pretty good about those last two innings.”