The Professional gets the job done
THEY are The Professionals, this Yankees team that never stops coming after you. And though there are a multitude of players in the clubhouse who fit under that umbrella, one stood out at the Stadium on Saturday.
That would be Neil Walker, who aptly enough delivered the 11th inning, one-out walk-off single to lift the Yankees to a 7-6 victory over the A’s in which they had trailed 6-2 through 4 ¹/2 innings and stopped the club’s steep slide at two games.
“He’s the definition of a professional,” Aaron Judge, who smacked a two-run parabolic homer into the left-field stands to start the team on its way back, said of Walker. “He works his butt off, whether he’s at third base, first base or DH. When we need a big hit, he’s a guy we turn to.
“That guy could fit in anywhere, the way he is in the clubhouse.”
The 32-year-old is becoming an essential fit here after initially appearing to be a square peg attempting to fit into a round hole. Signed a couple of weeks into spring training on March 12 to a oneyear deal after being one of those veterans experiencing a free-agent freeze, Walker slashed a microscopic .163/.209/.188 through May 2. Miguel Andujar had taken over at third base in Brandon Drury’s absence. Gleyber Torres had quickly become ensconced at second base. There was no need at all for Walker to be the DH.
And so, this 10-year veteran who had started a total of eight games at first base throughout his career, moved to first base, where he has been for 13 straight and 16 of his past 17 starts. The transition has been seamless. Where he will go when Greg Bird returns from rehab is anyone’s guess — and Aaron Boone’s call — but the manager will probably make room for Walker, 9-for-26 with four RBIs since May 3.
“He gives you quality at-bats day in and day out,” Boone said after Walker dropped Chris Hatcher’s first pitch, a 93 mph twoseam fastball, into center field to score Gary Sanchez from second base. “It’s not surprising to me that he’s played a big role for us.”
The club’s starting pitching had been a signal strength through the eight-game winning streak that ended with Thursday’s defeat to the Red Sox. But CC Sabathia was forced out after four innings in that one, Sonny Gray didn’t have it in a five-inning start against the A’s on Friday and Domingo German allowed six runs on five innings on Saturday.
But the bullpen, which had wobbled like a rickety bridge in a windstorm throughout the winning streak in yielding 21 runs in 26 2/3 innings (7.09 ERA), shut down Oakland over six shutout — and hitless — innings in this one. Jonathan Holder, Chad Green, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman — able to escape after loading the bases on walks with none out in the ninth — threw one inning apiece before A.J. Cole delivered the final two.
“They were great today,” Boone said. “All of them.”
Chapman was the second pitcher of the day to load the bases on walks and emerge unscathed. Oakland’s Santiago Casilla turned the trick in a 28-pitch inning in which he threw 10 strikes. When the sixth inning ended, A’s pitchers had thrown a total of 146 pitches. They finished with 203, just 116 of them for strikes in game where the Yankees walked nine times.
Walker had been a part of the game-tying, four-run rally in the fifth, singling home the 6-5 run with two out before Andujar’s base hit evened it a batter later. The Yankees scored seven on a day when Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-4, Didi Gregorius went 1-for-6 (breaking an 0-for-30 skid) and Torres went 0-for-5.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, but I knew there were good things on the horizon,” Walker said when asked about his dramatic turn-around. “I try not to put too much pressure on myself. In these types of situations, I simplify and look for a spot.”
Again, the lineup is a people-moving, meat-grinder with which opposing pitchers have to contend. Free outs are few and far between. For a time, Walker provided a respite. No more.
“You admire a guy who’s had adversity and comes through it the way he always has,” said Brett Gardner, whose peg from left-center cut down the would be goahead run at the plate on an inning-ending double play in the ninth. “You know what kind of a player he is, but to see what kind of a teammate he is, he’s just another in a long line of great teammates.
“He’s a pro. That’s the person he’s been throughout his career.”