Yankees' covert G2 pitching plan goes awry
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There was a measure of trickery afoot as Deivi García walked to the Petco Park mound on Tuesday evening, tabbed as the Yankees¡¯ youngest starting pitcher ever for a postseason contest. His first offerings were accompanied by activity in the bullpen, the 21-year-old¡¯s outing secretly intended only to be an opening cameo.
It was a move, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged, executed in hopes of exploiting the lefty-heavy Rays. The benefits of replacing Garc¨ªa after three outs were negligible; despite two monstrous Giancarlo Stanton homers, the Yankees fell by a 7-5 tally, evening the American League Division Series at one game apiece.
¡°You're playing a unique team that does a really good job of building their roster to create platoon advantages,¡± Boone said. ¡°We were just trying to counter that a little bit and force their hand early in the game. Unfortunately, it didn't work.¡±
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 5 | NYY 9, TB 3 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 6 | TB 7, NYY 5 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 7 | TB 8, NYY 4 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 8 | NYY 5, TB 1 | Watch |
| Gm 5 | Oct. 9 | TB 2, NYY 1 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: At 21 years and 140 days, Garc¨ªa was 211 days younger than Whitey Ford was in Game 4 of the 1950 World Series, when the future Hall of Famer fired 8 2/3 dazzling innings to wrap up a Yankees sweep. Garc¨ªa knew that his performance was destined to be much, much shorter than Ford¡¯s classic effort.
¡°To be honest, I did not ask why,¡± Garc¨ªa said through a translator. ¡°I believe in our manager. I know he¡¯s trying to make the best decisions possible to put us in a good spot to be successful. When I was taken out of the game, I was not surprised at all.¡±
Garc¨ªa permitted a Randy Arozarena homer in a 27-pitch first inning, then yielded to veteran left-hander J.A. Happ, who was knocked around for four runs in 2 2/3 innings. Happ was a curious choice for the assignment, given that he was irked by an unpredictable schedule early this season, before finding a reliable groove once permitted to get regular work beginning in late August.
Happ made it clear to Boone and the coaching staff that he was no fan of entering as a makeshift bulk reliever, voicing a preference to start. Having last pitched on Sept. 25, Happ said that he did his best to handle the challenge, but he permitted a two-run Mike Zunino homer in the second inning and a two-run Manuel Margot blast in the third.
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¡°They know how I felt about it,¡± Happ said. ¡°Ultimately, I pitch when I pitch. You¡¯ve got me. There was no hesitation and no dwelling on what was going on. I was focused and trying to perform. I wish I would have done a better job.¡±
A silver lining is that Garc¨ªa may be available in relief behind Masahiro Tanaka in Wednesday¡¯s Game 3, and certainly for Thursday¡¯s Game 4. Boone said that no decision has been made about a potential Game 5 starter, but given Tuesday¡¯s theatrics, ace Gerrit Cole may be asked to return on short rest if necessary.
¡°I talked to my coaching staff, the front office, and we¡¯ve talked through different scenarios,¡± Boone said. ¡°Having a few days going into this series, we were kind of building out how we wanted to roll out our pitching.¡±
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Kevin Kiermaier stroked a run-scoring single in the fifth inning, a run charged to Adam Ottavino, and Austin Meadows cracked a solo shot off Jonathan Loáisiga in the sixth.
Meadows, one of five lefties in the Rays¡¯ lineup, said that they were not caught off-guard by the Garc¨ªa/Happ swap. The strategy was better executed by the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, when right-hander Matt Shoemaker and left-hander Robbie Ray combined for six innings of one-run ball.
"We knew there was going to be a lefty coming in after Garc¨ªa,¡± Meadows said. ¡°We faced Happ before, but it¡¯s been a while. We had to continue to keep a game plan because we knew it was going to be a left-handed pitcher. I think we showed we competed well tonight."
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The sputtering pitching and 18 strikeouts by the Bombers¡¯ vaunted lineup -- a postseason record for a nine-inning contest -- overshadowed another epic performance by Stanton, who homered twice off starter Tyler Glasnow, joining Lou Gehrig (1928, ¡¯32) and Reggie Jackson (1977-78) as the only Yankees to homer in four consecutive postseason games.
¡°That's pretty cool, but that's stuff you look at after the year is done,¡± Stanton said.
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Even with the flopped attempt at deceit, the Yankees mounted a ninth-inning rally, bringing the potential go-ahead run to bat. Gio Urshela and Gleyber Torres worked walks against right-hander Pete Fairbanks, who recovered to notch a pair of strikeouts before DJ LeMahieu laced a run-scoring single to center field.
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That brought up Aaron Judge, but the slugger wrapped an 0-for-5 evening by chopping a slider to third base for the final out.
¡°To put five runs up there and have an opportunity to do more -- there's going to be challenging nights along the way,¡± Boone said. ¡°For the most part, I thought we gave ourselves a chance.¡±