Pods, Melvin one-Up pen
SAN DIEGO – The Yankees should have been heavy favorites in a battle of the bullpens against the Padres, but as we all know, you can’t predict baseball.
Melvin Upton Jr. launched Andrew Miller’s first pitch in the ninth inning deep into the left-field seats, lifting the Padres to a 2-1 win over the Yankees.
San Diego has taken the first two games of the weekend set, leaving it up to rookie righthander Chad Green to help the Yankees avoid a sweep on Sunday against Padres righty Andrew Cashner.
Ivan Nova gave the Yankees 5.1 solid innings of one-run ball, but Joe Girardi couldn’t go to his “No Runs-DMC” trio fast enough, calling on Dellin Betances with one out in the sixth.
Instead of locking down a onerun lead, Betances allowed Nova’s inherited runner to score, knotting the game at one. It stayed that way until the ninth, as Upton crushed Miller’s first offering deep to left, setting off a celebration among the 42,315 at Petco Park and Upton’s teammates at home plate.
“It’s unusual to see them give up runs,” Girardi said of his late-inning relievers. “You just don’t see it. But the problem tonight is that we didn’t score.”
“I just wasn’t very good,” Miller said. “I wasn’t very sharp in general and I paid for it.”
“Drew has been phenomenal all year,” Betances said. “That’s going to happen from time to time.”
The Yankees are 39-41, meaning they are guaranteed to be below . 500 when the season hits the official halfway point following Sunday’s game. Much like Nathan Eovaldi, Nova has struggled for more than a month. The righthander started out with three strong outings after moving to the rotation in early-May, but he took the mound Saturday with only one quality start in his past seven, posting a 6.92 ERA during that stretch.
Girardi described Nova’s first half as “up and down,” though the manager offered a theory as to the pitcher’s recent problems: extra rest, which he had in each of his previous three starts before taking the ball on his regular fifth day Saturday. “This is the first time in a while that he’s been on normal rest,” Girardi said before the game. “I’m hoping his ball has more sink today and that he gives us a good start. We need it.”
Nova answered the call, allowing three hits over five scoreless innings to open the game. He struck out seven Padres during that stretch without issuing a walk.
“He threw the ball well and hopefully he can build on this,” Girardi said of Nova.
Unlike many of the mediocre starters that have starred against the Yankees this season, lefthander Drew Pomeranz carried a sparkling 2.76 ERA to the mound Saturday. Pomeranz matched Nova through the first five frames, also holding the Yankees to three hits – all singles – with six strikeouts while not allowing a runner beyond first base.
The Yankees were the first to break through in the sixth, starting with Jacoby Ellsbury’s leadoff double. Brett Gardner reached on
a bunt single that put runners at the corners, allowing Ellsbury to score the game’s first run on Starlin Castro’s groundout. Pomeranz limited the damage to the one run, keeping the pressure on Nova to hold the lead.
Only Girardi didn’t give him the chance to do that. Travis Jankowski led off the sixth with a single, though Gardner threw him out at second base as he tried to stretch the hit into a double. Nova then walked Wil Myers, bringing Girardi out of the dugout to end Nova’s night after 5.1 innings and only 77 pitches.
Myers stole second base on Betances’ first pitch, then Kemp hit a soft double to right on the next offering, tying the game.
Upton nearly gave San Diego the lead with a two-out single to right, but Rob Refsnyder made a great throw home, nailing Kemp at the plate. The Padres challenged the call, but video replay backed the umpire’s call, sending the tie game to the seventh.
Pomeranz sat the Yankees down in order in the seventh, finishing his night charged with one run on five hits..